IHS Markit Ltd., London, purchased group annuity contracts from Legal & General Group subsidiaries to transfer $144 million in liabilities from its U.S. and U.K. pension plans.
The company transferred $97 million in U.S. pension plan liabilities and £38 million ($47 million) in U.K. pension liabilities to complete the termination processes for the plans, an IHS Markit spokesman confirmed in an email.
In IHS Markit's most recent 10-K filing, the company said it began the termination processes for its frozen, non-contributory U.S. pension plan and an unfunded pay-as-you-go U.S. supplemental pension plan in December 2018 and expected to complete the process by mid-2020.
The same filing said the termination process for the U.K. pension plan had begun and was expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
As of Dec. 31, combined U.S. and U.K. plan assets totaled $199 million, while projected benefit obligations totaled $225 million, for a funding ratio of 88.4%.
Willis Towers Watson assisted with the transactions, according to a Legal & General news release.
IHS Markit purchased the contracts from Legal & General Assurance Society in the U.K., and the deal was written through Banner Life Insurance Co. and William Penn Life Insurance Co. of New York for the U.S., a Legal & General spokeswoman said in an email.
