NCR Corp., Duluth, Ga., announced on Tuesday it has entered into an annuity buyout agreement with Pension Insurance Corp. for the defined benefit pension fund for NCR Ltd., its U.K. subsidiary.
The agreement is part of what the company calls Phase III of its “ongoing pension transformation strategy” and was completed Nov. 14, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The pension fund has about 5,400 participants and about $1 billion in pension benefit obligations. NCR, which makes automated teller machines and other point-of-sale products, plans to “wind up” the plan no later than June 30, 2015, and completion of the buyout is scheduled for no later than January 2016.
NCR's pension strategy, which began in 2011, has included shifting its frozen U.S. defined benefit pension fund allocation entirely to fixed income and offering a lump-sum payout to vested U.S. participants who have not yet retired.
As of Dec. 31, NCR's international pension fund assets totaled $2.23 billion and international projected benefit obligations totaled $2.25 billion for a funding ratio of 99%, according to its most recent 10-K filing. Specific numbers for the U.K. pension fund were not available by press time.
Phone calls to Robert P. Fishman, senior vice president and chief financial officer, were not returned by press time. NCR spokesman Andy Phillips declined to comment. Jeremy Apfel, PIC spokesman, would not provide further information.
