According to a report in the Financial Times quoted by Reuters and Automotive News, General Motors has approached a real estate agent, Jones Lang LaSalle, to help the company raise $257 million through the sale and leaseback of its property assets and offices in Europe.

The plan is apparently part of a global effort to raise as much as $4 billion through asset sales and capital market transactions. In the United States, the strategy would include the sale and lease back of the Detroit skyscraper complex, Renaissance Center, which serves as GM's corporate headquarters.

According to the Financial Times article, GM did not comment on assets that would be for sale in Europe, although a "person familiar" with the company indicated they could include the Saab brand offices in Sweden and the headquarters of Vauxhall in Luton, England.

Additionally, GM has announced efforts to reduce the cost of staff in its European operations by a minimum of 10 percent, a further measure to meet the challenges of one of the worst economic periods in recent memory in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Jones Lang LaSalle confirmed it was working with GM, but offered no further comment on the nature of the collaboration.