Stellantis To Pay GM Nearly $1 Billion To Buy Back Shares Related To 2017 Opel Deal

Stellantis and GM said on Tuesday that they are set to execute a share repurchase agreement that will see the former buy 69.1 million of its own shares back from the Detroit automaker.

The stocks amount to around 2.2 percent of Stellantis‘ share capital, and the conglomerate will pay €923,247,678 ($923,293,840 USD at current exchange rates) to GM for the shares in a deal that will occur on September 15.

In addition, Stellantis will deliver 1.2 million common shares in Faurecia to GM, as well as an aggregate amount of cash for dividends that comes to around €130 million ($130 million USD).

The agreement follows from a deal struck between GM and Peugeot S.A. (PSA) in 2017. At the time, the French automaker was purchasing Opel and Vauxhall from GM and issued equity warrants to the American company as part of the agreement.

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General Motors, meanwhile, announced today that its board of directors has authorized the reinstatement of a quarterly cash dividend on its outstanding common stock at a rate of $0.09 per share. The first dividend will be paid on September 15.

“GM’s consistently strong earnings, margins and cash flow, our investment-grade balance sheet, and the achievement of several significant milestones in our growth strategy enables us to invest aggressively to accelerate our all-electric future while also supporting the return of excess free cash flow to shareholders, aligned with our long-term capital allocation strategy,” said Paul Jacobson, GM’s chief financial officer.

It also announced that it will resume “opportunistic share repurchases” and is expanding its existing repurchase program from $3.3 billion to $5 billion. CEO Mary Barra added that its recent successes have allowed this decision.

“GM is investing more than $35 billion through 2025 to advance our growth plan, including rapidly expanding our electric vehicle portfolio and creating a domestic battery manufacturing infrastructure,” she said. “Progress on these key strategic initiatives has improved our visibility and strengthened confidence in our capacity to fund growth while also returning capital to shareholders.”