Delta to sell 18.2 million shares of stock

Delta Air Lines has filed documents to sell as many as 18.2 million of its shares to offset tax payments on stock issued to employees after the merger with Northwest Airlines.

Atlanta-based Delta filed the shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday for the $181.6 million stock offering agreement with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. The shares offered were withheld for tax purposes from stock issued to employees and certain equity awards that vested.

Also in the filing, Delta said it expects to record a non-cash $950 million charge related to the stock issued to employees as well as a $1.7 billion drop in the value of Northwest’s long-term debt;

Further, the company said it expects to have about $6.5 billion at the end of the year, including cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and fuel hedge margin. Delta said it was required to provide about $1.1 billion in collateral for its fuel hedges as of Dec. 15.