PBGC takes over Bill Johnson's Restaurants pension plan

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is taking over a pension plan sponsored by Bill Johnson's Restaurants Inc., a Phoenix-based restaurant chain.

The PBGC said Thursday that it is stepping in because the company, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2011, likely will abandon the pension plan.

The plan, which has about 200 participants, is 39% funded with $3.9 million in assets and $10.5 million in liabilities. The agency said it expects to cover $6.1 million of the $6.6 million funding shortfall.