The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has taken over the underfunded pension plan of White Rose Inc., an independent Carteret, New Jersey-based independent food wholesaler that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month and now is selling off assets.
The plan, which has about 1,400 participants, is underfunded by $30.3 million, with $54.6 million in assets and $84.9 million in liabilities, the PBGC said Monday.
The PBGC said it expects to cover $30.2 million of the $30.3 million funding shortfall.
Separately, the PBGC is reminding defined benefit plan sponsors that the premiums they will pay the agency next year will rise sharply.
Under legislation passed late last year, the so-called flat-rate premium paid by all plan sponsors will rise in 2015 to $57 per plan participant, up from the current $49 per participant rate.
In addition, the so-called variable rate premium paid by employers with underfunded plans will increase in 2015 to $24 per $1,000 of plan underfunding, up from the current rate of $14 per $1,000 of underfunding.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will take over the defined benefit plan of James River Coal Co., the agency announced Wednesday.