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Dan Primack wrote a clarifying article yesterday: https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2016/07/21/more-on-what-gm-paid-to-buy-cruise-automation/%3

Dan Primack wrote a clarifying article yesterday: https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2016/07/21/more-on-what-gm-paid-to-buy-cruise-automation/%3fsource=dam# https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2016/07/2... The key part: because GM GM is being very narrow in how it describes the deal value. The $581 million (or $600 million, whichever you prefer) is the cash and stock that actually went out the Detroit doors during GM’s second fiscal quarter. Not included were a variety of other things, including cash still being held in escrow, expected earn-out payments, employee retention packages and other expected employee compensation (particularly for those with unvested shares at the time of acquisition).

argonaut 10y ago
Yes, but I find a $400M retention package to be highly implausible. We're talking the kind of compensation that Google/Facebook would spend to retain 40 top executives.
gumby 10y ago
That seems unlikely, as GAAP would require reserving that amount on the balance sheet and typing it to the acquisition. What Primack describes would be like buying a house and claiming its price is what you paid as the down payment.