the amount available to us to pay cash dividends is restricted by our subsidiaries 2019 debt agreements . the indentures governing the senior subordinated notes and the senior discount notes also limit , but do not prohibit , the ability of bcp crystal , crystal llc and their respective subsidiaries to pay dividends . any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on , among other things , our results of operations , cash requirements , financial condition , contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant . under the domination agreement , any minority shareholder of celanese ag who elects not to sell its shares to the purchaser will be entitled to remain a shareholder of celanese ag and to receive a gross guaranteed fixed annual payment on their shares of u3.27 per celanese share less certain corporate taxes to be paid by cag in lieu of any future dividend . see 2018 2018the transactions 2014 post-tender offer events 2014domination and profit and loss transfer agreement . 2019 2019 under delaware law , our board of directors may declare dividends only to the extent of our 2018 2018surplus 2019 2019 ( which is defined as total assets at fair market value minus total liabilities , minus statutory capital ) , or if there is no surplus , out of our net profits for the then current and/or immediately preceding fiscal years . the value of a corporation 2019s assets can be measured in a number of ways and may not necessarily equal their book value . the value of our capital may be adjusted from time to time by our board of directors but in no event will be less than the aggregate par value of our issued stock . our board of directors may base this determination on our financial statements , a fair valuation of our assets or another reasonable method . our board of directors will seek to assure itself that the statutory requirements will be met before actually declaring dividends . in future periods , our board of directors may seek opinions from outside valuation firms to the effect that our solvency or assets are sufficient to allow payment of dividends , and such opinions may not be forthcoming . if we sought and were not able to obtain such an opinion , we likely would not be able to pay dividends . in addition , pursuant to the terms of our preferred stock , we are prohibited from paying a dividend on our series a common stock unless all payments due and payable under the preferred stock have been made . celanese purchases of its equity securities period number of shares ( or units ) purchased ( 1 ) average price paid per share ( or unit ) total number of shares ( or units ) purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs maximum number ( or approximate dollar value ) of shares ( or units ) that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs october 1 2013 october 31 , 2005 2014 2014 2014 2014 november 1 2013 november 30 , 2005 2014 2014 2014 2014 december 1 2013 december 31 , 2005 10000 $ 18.705 10000 2014 .
what was the cost of the shares of series a common stock were purchased on the open market in december 2005
( 1 ) 10000 shares of series a common stock were purchased on the open market in december 2005 at $ 18.705 per share , approved by the board of directors pursuant to the provisions of the 2004 stock incentive plan , approved by shareholders in december 2004 , to be granted to two employees in recognition of their contributions to the company . no other purchases are currently planned . equity compensation plans the information required to be included in this item 5 with respect to our equity compensation plans is incorporated by reference from the section captioned 2018 2018securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans 2019 2019 in the company 2019s definitive proxy statement for the 2006 annual meeting of stockholders . recent sales of unregistered securities .