PBGC Takes Tire Company Pension

October 22, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has assumed responsibility for the underfunded pension plan covering more than 600 former workers and retirees of Denman Tire LLC of Leavittsburg, Ohio.

The PBGC said in a news release that it stepped in because Denman Tire is liquidating in bankruptcy proceedings, and there will be no sponsor left to fund or administer the plan.

According to PBGC estimates, the Denman Tire Corporation Pension Plan is 46% funded, with assets of $15.1 million to cover $32.7 million in benefit liabilities. The PBGC expects to be responsible for $17 million of the $17.6 million shortfall.

The plan ended on March 17, 2010, and the agency assumed responsibility for the plan on September 21, 2010.

Participants in the plan are subject to the limits in effect when Denman Tire filed for bankruptcy protection on March 17, 2010, which set a maximum guaranteed amount of $54,000 per year for a 65-year-old.

Denman Tire was founded in 1919 and produced off-highway tires for tractors and earthmovers, as well as on-highway commercial tires.

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