PBGC Taking on Plan From Steel Products Firm

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is taking over the pension fund of PTC Alliance Corp., a bankrupt steel products manufacturer, PBGC spokesman Marc Hopkins confirmed this week.

The Wexford, Pennsylvania, company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection October 1. It plans to sell most of its assets in a transaction that will not include the pension fund, according to a PBGC news release.

The pension fund, which covers 750 employees and retirees, was terminated December 28, the PBGC said in the release.

The plan is 51 percent funded, with $39.7 million in assets and $77.1 million in liabilities; the PBGC expects to cover $37 million of shortfall, according to the release.

Earlier this month, auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. proposed that the PBGC take over its underfunded pension plans as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

The PBGC said the three plans sponsored by Van Buren, Michigan-based Visteon are underfunded by about $544 million. The PBGC would be liable for about $444 million in unfunded guaranteed benefits.  The plans have about 21,000 participants.

Visteon filed its proposal December 17 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Filed by Doug Halonen of Pensions & Investments and Jerry Geisel of Business Insurance. Both are sister publications of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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