Rock-Tenn Co., Norcross, Ga., announced on Friday it has extended a lump-sum offer to former employees who are vested but have yet to receive benefits in three of its defined benefit pension plans.
The plans are the Rock-Tenn Co. Consolidated Pension Plan, Rock-Tenn Co. Pension Plan for Certain Salaried Employees and RTS Packaging LLC Consolidated Pension Plan.
The lump-sum offer letter has gone out to more than 9,000 former employees who have yet to retire. The former employees have until Aug. 5 to accept or decline the offer.
The company has estimated that former employees representing between $200 million and $300 million in liabilities should accept the offer.
The company also announced it plans to make an offer later this year to a similar employee group in the Rock-Tenn Co. Pension Plan for Certain Hourly Employees.
As of Sept. 30, the company's pension funds had a total of $3.522 billion in assets and $4.524 billion in projected benefit obligations, giving the funds a combined funding ratio of 77.8%, said the company's most recent 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Breakdowns for the individual plans as of that date were not available.
Phone calls to Ward Dickson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Robin Keegan, spokeswoman, were not returned by press time.
