DALLAS, Oct. 18,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ATI Inc. (NYSE: ATI) announced
that it will purchase group annuity contracts from Athene Annuity
and Life Company and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of
New York (collectively, "Athene"),
transferring approximately 85% of its U.S. qualified defined
benefit pension plan obligations to Athene. The U.S. qualified
defined benefit pension plans represented $1.77 billion in liabilities on December 31, 2022. In 2023, the company
contributed $272 million in cash –
including $222 million in September –
to the Plans, which is intended to fully fund the remaining defined
benefit pension liabilities. These actions are the latest steps in
the company's de-risking strategy, bringing further stability and
strength to its balance sheet.
Under the contracts, ATI will transfer the gross pension
obligations and related plan assets for approximately 8,200 plan
participants to Athene. The pension benefits to which these
participants and their beneficiaries are entitled will not change
as a result of the transaction.
"With this action, ATI meets all of its pension obligations, and
everyone benefits," said Robert S.
Wetherbee, Board Chair and CEO. "Our retirees will gain the
security of having a large, financially strong insurer with
established expertise provide their pension benefits. Our business
meets its commitments to all its pension plan participants, through
both the annuity purchase and our decision to fully fund our
remaining qualified pension obligations. And our shareholders gain
confidence knowing these de-risking actions will result in lower,
more predictable pension expense in the future."
Since 2016, ATI has completed seven annuitization transactions.
Through pension de-risking actions, ATI has reduced the number of
plan participants by more than 90%. ATI hired independent fiduciary
State Street Global Advisors to conduct a thorough review of
reputable insurance companies and select the insurer.
ATI: Proven to Perform.
ATI (NYSE: ATI) is a global producer of high-performance
materials and solutions for the global aerospace and defense
markets, and critical applications in electronics, medical and
specialty energy. We're solving the world's most difficult
challenges through materials science. We partner with our customers
to deliver extraordinary materials that enable their greatest
achievements: their products fly higher and faster, burn hotter,
dive deeper, stand stronger and last longer. Our proprietary
process technologies, unique customer partnerships and commitment
to innovation deliver materials and solutions for today and the
evermore challenging environments of tomorrow. We are proven
to perform anywhere. Learn more at ATImaterials.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ati-reduces-us-defined-benefit-pension-obligation-by-approximately-85-through-annuitization-301959901.html
SOURCE ATI