It was huge news not too long ago when Treasury announced its lead managers for the General Motors IPO and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was not among the winners. People used it as an example of how Goldman PR woes were affecting its ability to win mandates.

But Bloomberg notes that the influence of Goldman Sachs hangs heavy over the upcoming IPO (IPO news). The thinking goes that Goldman made a lowball bid--just 0.75 percent of proceeds--to win the business. While Treasury declined Goldman's low offer, it imposed the low fee on four big Wall Street banks that will be leading the offering. That really cost them; they could have made up to three or four times the $120 million they will split on the deal.

IPOs of this size typically command fees closer to 3 percent. There was a day when the fee amounted to a full 6 percent. Other bidding banks were said to be generally in the 2 to 2.5 percent range. Reuters notes that a 0.75 percent underwriting fee is among the smallest, percentage-wise, of the top 10 IPOs of all time.

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
Goldman Sachs fares well in IPOs
GM IPO lead underwriter decision coming soon? Goldman Sachs to be passed over
Goldman Sachs losing traction in IPOs?
JPMorgan, Bank of America lead in race for GM IPO?