CBS Corp., New York, purchased a group annuity contract from an insurance company to transfer about $800 million in U.S. pension plan liabilities, the company disclosed in a 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company entered into the agreement on Nov. 1, but did not disclose the name of the insurance company. The purchase will be funded by pension plan assets, according to the filing, and represents about 20% of the plan liabilities. CBS did not disclose how many retirees are being transferred or when the insurance company would begin making benefit payments.
CBS also announced it plans to make a discretionary contribution of $500 million to the plan during the fourth quarter.
This is the latest derisking move for CBS Corp., which made a lump-sum offer in 2016 to former employees who had vested in the plan but who had yet to retire, eventually transferring $518 million in lump sums to those participants who took the offer.
As of Dec. 31, plan assets totaled $3.244 billion, while projected benefit obligations totaled $4.66 billion, for a funding ratio of 69.6%.
Kelli Raftery, company spokeswoman, could not be immediately reached to provide further information.
