DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) announced a $516 million special dividend,
thanks largely to the recent $1.3 billion sale of its
authentication-services business, and the company said it intends
to return the rest of the deal's more than $1 billion of proceeds
to shareholders eventually.
Shares of VeriSign rose 4.5% to $36.62 premarket. As of
Thursday's close, the stock had risen 45% this year.
The Internet domain company in August sold its
authentication-services arm to Symantec Corp. (SYMC), saying it was
focusing on its Internet-infrastructure-services business.
"It is our intention to return at least the remaining proceeds
from the sale of authentication services over the next year, and we
will continue to evaluate the best way to return those proceeds on
an ongoing basis," said Chief Financial Officer Brian Robins.
A host of companies have been returning excess cash to
shareholders through special dividends. The dividend will be
payable later this month, taking advantage of the current federal
tax rate on dividends. Numerous corporations have been announcing
special dividends in recent weeks before Monday's tax-deal
announcement between President Barack Obama and congressional
Republicans. If the deal isn't approved, Bush-era tax cuts will
disappear, raising taxes on dividends, among other income.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com;