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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
DETROIT—General Motors Co. contributed $4 billion in cash to its U.S. pension plans, according to a company statement Thursday.
It split the contribution, with $2.7 billion going to its hourly plan and $1.3 billion to its salaried plan.
The two plans had combined assets of $84.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009.
The cash contribution, which the GM statement said was voluntary, was funded from the $5 billion GM raised from the sale of its preferred stock on Nov. 18, sold at the same time as GM's initial public offering of common stock, according to a GM filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
“All of the company's U.S. pension plans were last concurrently remeasured on Dec. 31, 2009, for the 2009 Form 10-K and were underfunded in total by $17.1 billion,” the statement said. “The company will next remeasure all of its U.S. pension plans at yearend 2010, and their funded status will be included in the 2010 Form 10-K.”
Christopher P. Liddell, vice chairman and CFO, said in the statement: “This pension contribution puts us another step closer to our goal of fully funding our pension plans and achieving minimal debt. With a healthy balance sheet, a lower cost structure and focus on revenue generation, we continue to put in place the fundamentals for sustainable success.”
The statement made no mention of an Oct. 29 announcement that GM also plans to contribute $2 billion in company stock to its U.S. plans.
Barry B. Burr is the editorial page editor for Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Business Insurance.