Compliance May 3, 2010

Supermarket Chain Agrees to PBGC Pension Funding Deal

May 3, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Monday announced a $17.5-million funding agreement to bolster a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based supermarket chain’s pension program.
Reported by

A PBGC news release said Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. will put $7.5 million into the Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. Retirement Plan, followed by a $5 million payment on April 29, 2011, and $2.5 million on April 29, 2012.  Roundy’s will put the $15 million into the plan on top of the plan’s required minimum funding contributions. 

In the agreement, reached under the agency’s Early Warning Program, Roundy’s also agreed to increase a $10 million letter of credit, obtained by the PBGC in 2005, by $2.5 to $12.5 million. The letter of credit was issued in November 2005 in connection with a $35-million settlement with the agency.

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The PBGC and Roundy’s began negotiations after the agency learned that Roundy’s sought to acquire $150 million in new secured debt in order to pay a dividend to its owners, according to the announcement.

Roundy’s owns and operates 154 grocery stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois under the trade names Pick ‘n Save, Copps, Rainbow, and Metro Market. Its pension plan covers 5,340 workers and retirees.

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