Pension Plan Spinoff/Termination for Consumer Goods Company

Seyfarth represented a consumer goods company in the spinoff/termination of its pension plan, which covered more than 2,000 participants and had assets of $62 million. The client decided to spin off to a new plan the portion of its pension plan that is still “open” for certain union employees to accrue a pension benefit (payable upon retirement). Assets and liabilities associated with former employees and current retirees will remain in the original plan, which was terminated in 2022. Seyfarth’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation team advised the client on the plan design considerations for the two-part transaction, and prepared all plan documents. Seyfarth also advised the company on the compliance aspects of the plan termination and serves as counsel to the pension plan’s fiduciaries as they administer a lump sum window and ultimately purchase a group annuity contract to cover ongoing benefit obligations for remaining participants in the terminated plan.