General Electric on Thursday announced that it had raised $15.2bn from the sale of shares to the public and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, in the conglomerate’s latest bid to restore confidence in its financial strength

It raised $12.2bn through the sale 547.8m shares at $22.25 each, a discount of 9.2 per cent to Wednesday’s closing price. It also sold $3bn in preferred shares to Berkshire, which will receive warrants to buy another $3bn in common stock at $22.25 within five years.