The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has sold its stake in Delphi Automotive LLP for $594 million, in an action that could affect the pension benefits PBGC pays to about 70,000 Delphi workers and retirees, the federal agency said Thursday.

“PBGC doesn’t know how this action will affect benefits,” the agency said in a statement from its Washington, D.C., office. “PBGC will inform Delphi retirees of their final benefit amount as soon as the complex calculation process is complete.”

Delphi Automotive said it also paid $3.8 billion to buy a stake that General Motors Corp. owned in Delphi. Delphi said it purchased the interests held by the PBGC and GM to boost the company’s value for shareholders. The deal was financed with cash and $2.5 billion of new bank debt, Delphi Automotive said.

Delphi Automotive, a provider of automotive electronics and technologies, was created in October 2009 when private investors acquired assets of the former Delphi Corp., the auto parts maker that entered bankruptcy reorganization in 2005.

The PBGC acquired its interest in Delphi Automotive in partial settlement of the agency’s claims resulting from the 2009 termination of pension plans of the bankrupt company. The former Delphi’s pension plans were underfunded by $7 billion. PBGC said it took responsibility for $6.1 billion of that.

The former Delphi Corp., based in Troy, Mich., closed four of its five Dayton-area auto parts plants.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.