Capital One Financial Corp., McLean, Va., has entered into an agreement to acquire Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, Ill., in a $35.3 billion deal that would create a combined firm with $11.1 billion in retirement plan assets.
The companies said in a joint news release Feb. 19 that Discover shareholders will receive 1.0192 Capital One shares for each Discover share upon the transaction's closing in late 2024 or early 2025, based on Discover stock's closing price of $110.49 on Feb. 16.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, the Capital One Financial Corp. Associate Savings Plan had $8.2 billion in assets and its record keeper was Fidelity Investments, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing, while the Discover Financial Services 401(k) Plan had $2.2 billion in assets and its record keeper was Alight Solutions, according to its Form 5500 filing.
Also as of Dec. 31, 2022, the Capital One Financial Corp. Cash Balance Pension Plan had $227 million in assets, according to its most recent Form 5500 filing, and the Discover Financial Services Pension Plan had $497 million in assets, according to its most recent Form 5500 filing. According to the filings, Mercer is the investment consultant of the Capital One plan and Goldman Sachs Asset Management is the investment manager of the Discover pension plan.
The news release did not address whether the plans would be merged or whether record keeper or consultant searches would be conducted as a result.