Verso, Tenneco pay lump sums, record settlement gains of $18 million

Two U.S. corporations announced recent lump-sum distributions to former employees vested in their pension plans who accepted offers in the fourth quarter, 10-K filings with the SEC on Monday show.

Verso Corp., Miamisburg, Ohio, and Tenneco Inc., Lake Forest, Ill., distributed lump sums to former employees, recording $13 million and $5 million, respectively, in settlement gains on their balance sheets.

Verso included retirees in its offer window, which began Oct. 24 and ended Nov. 22. Out of the roughly 5,000 participants who were offered the lump sum, about 50% accepted the offer, spokeswoman Shawn Hall said in an email. The company distributed a total of about $150 million in lump-sum payments, Ms. Hall said.

As of Dec. 31, the total assets in Verso's U.S. pension plans, which were frozen at the end of 2015, equaled $1.173 billion, while projected benefit obligations totaled $1.542 billion, for a funding ratio of 76.1%.

Also as of Dec. 31, Tenneco's U.S. pension plan assets totaled $1.062 billion, while PBO totaled $1.32 billion, for a funding ratio of 80.5%.

Tenneco spokesman Bill Dawson could not immediately provide further information.