Baxter International Inc., Deerfield, Ill., is offering lump-sum payments to 16,000 vested former employees, confirmed spokeswoman Deborah Spak.
The offer is being made to any vested employee who left the pharmaceutical company before July 1, 2011, and has not yet received any pension benefits.
“It helps us reduce administrative costs and investment volatility,” Ms. Spak said in a telephone interview.
Baxter International does not have estimates for how many participants will accept the offer and the effect it will have on pension liabilities, Ms. Spak said. She declined to provide details on the time frame for when participants have to decide on the offers.
Baxter had $3.67 billion in pension assets and $4.94 billion in liabilities for a funded status of 74.3%, as of Dec. 31.
