Graco buys annuity to transfer $63 million in pension liabilities

Graco Inc., Minneapolis, entered into an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from an insurance company to transfer about $63 million in U.S. pension plan liabilities.

The industrial machinery company closed the deal after the end of its third quarter on Sept. 24, it disclosed in a 10-Q filing with the SEC on Wednesday.

The purchase will transfer the benefit-paying responsibility for 421 participants in the company's two U.S. pension plans to the undisclosed insurer, the filing said.

The filing also noted the company will merge the smaller pension plan into the larger pension plan during the fourth quarter.

As of Dec. 31, the Graco Employee Retirement Plan–Blue and the Graco Employee Retirement Plan–Gray had $286 million and $56 million in assets, respectively, according to the company's most recent Form 5500 filings.

David Ahlers, executive vice president of human resources and corporate communications, could not be immediately reached for further information.