DECEMBER 2, 2010, 2:02 P.M. ET.

GM Pays $4 Billion to Pension Plans

By CHRISTOPHER HINTON

General Motors Co. said Thursday it contributed $4 billion to its U.S. pension plans, a payment it previously signaled it would make.

"This pension contribution puts us another step closer to our goal of fully funding our pension plans and achieving minimal debt," said Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell in a statement.

GM said its U.S. pension plans were underfunded by $17.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009. It added that it will assess the status of its plans again at the end of this year. It said its U.S. pension plans currently provide benefits to about 688,000 participants.

GM's initial public stock offering last month raised some $23.1 billion, making it one of the largest offerings in U.S. history. The auto maker emerged from bankruptcy on July 10, 2009, after 40 days under U.S.-financed court reorganization.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury said Thursday that taxpayers' return from GM's IPO has risen to $13.5 billion. The additional gain stems from the successful sale of nearly 54 million more shares of the company's common stock, which underwriters had the option to sell within 30 days of the IPO.

The Treasury last month said it had received $11.7 billion from the sale of 358,546,795 GM shares.

The U.S. spent $49.5 billion to bail out the car maker, giving taxpayers 61% of the company's common stock.

—Meena Thiruvengadam contributed to this article.

Write to Christopher Hinton at christopher.hinton@dowjones.com
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