VeriSign To Pay $516 Million Special Dividend With Divestiture Proceeds

  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; [e-mail];