NEW YORK (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it netted a total of $1.6 billion from its stock offering earlier this week.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker launched an offering of 300 million shares of common stock this week, pricing the shares at $4.75 each. It also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase another 45 million shares, which they exercised.
Settlement of the offering is scheduled for Monday, Ford said. The company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including funding its retiree health care trust with cash instead of stock.
The company owes $13.1 billion to its VEBA by 2022, of which $6.5 billion can be paid in stock, cash or a combination of both. In March, United Auto Workers members approved a new contract that, besides freezing wages and cutting benefits, allows Ford to use stock to make payments to the retiree health care trust.