BorgWarner Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich., agreed to make $111 million in contributions to its pension plan to cover benefits for 3,000 employees who lost their jobs when the company shut down a Muncie, Ind., plant last April, said Marc Hopkins, a PBGC spokesman.
The agreement with PBGC is intended to ensure that the plan is in better financial shape, Mr. Hopkins said.
Under ERISA, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is required to seek additional protection when more than 20% of a company's employees covered by a pension plan lose their jobs because of a plant closing.
Erika Nielsen, a BorgWarner spokeswoman, said: “We're just bringing the plan back to the funding levels BorgWarner maintained just before the economic downturn. BorgWarner values the contributions of our nearly 3,000 workers covered by the plan and we're proud to offer this benefit.”
Ms. Nielsen said BorgWarner had $269.1 million in total U.S. defined benefit assets as of Dec. 31.
