General Motors (NYSE: GM) will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.59375 per share on its Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock on 2 December 2013 to Series B holders of record as of 15 November. The total amount of the dividend is approximately $59.4 million. GM does not pay a dividend on its common stock.
The announcement comes as the U.S. Department of the Treasury is continuing its sales of GM stock by starting a third “pre-defined written trading plan” at the end of September. Terms were not disclosed. At the conclusion of the second trading plan, taxpayers held 101.3 million shares of GM stock, or about 7%, which together with the sales from the first plan means that the U.S. government has now sold about 200 million shares of GM common.
Treasury did not specify how many of the remaining shares would be sold, but if market demand is large enough, the slur “Government Motors” may fade into the pages of the history of the failed Bush Administration before the end of the year.
At current stock market prices, U.S. taxpayers will likely lose ~$10 billion on the GM bailout. In December 2012, GM repurchased 200 million shares of GM common stock from Treasury. At that time, Treasury said that it would sell its remaining 300 million shares into the market in an “orderly fashion” and fully exit its GM investment within the next 12-15 months. Treasury appears to be well ahead of that schedule.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
