Baxter International offers lump sums to some former employees

Baxter International is offering lump-sum payments to 16,000 vested former employees.

Baxter International Inc. is offering lump-sum payments to 16,000 vested former employees, a spokeswoman for the Deerfield, Ill.-based health care company said.

The offer is being made to any vested employee who left the company before July 1, 2011, and has not yet received any pension benefits.

“It helps us reduce administrative costs and investment volatility,” the spokeswoman said.

Baxter International does not have estimates for how many participants will accept the offer and the effect it will have on pension liabilities, the spokeswoman said. She declined to provide details on the time frame for when participants have to decide on the offers.

Baxter had $3.67 billion in pension assets and $4.94 billion in liabilities for a funded status of 74.3%, as of Dec. 31.

Kevin Olsen is a reporter at Pensions and Investments, a sister publication of Business Insurance.