Mergers & Acquisitions: Pension & Benefits Issues

Our group has extensive experience in all aspects of the pensions and benefits issues involved in corporate transactions and works closely with our Business Law group in advising clients regarding all stages of transactions. This includes preliminary due diligence matters, strategic advice, risk assessments, negotiating agreement terms and post-closing matters such as plan mergers and terminations.

Experience

Examples of our work include:

• Advising a multi-national mining client over the course of a multi-billion dollar amalgamation, including establishment of a unified pension committee including governance procedures and documentation, as well as the termination and wind-up of several pension and benefit plans and a post closing pension asset transfer in respect of certain transferred employees
• Advising a forestry client with respect to all aspects of $400 million amalgamation, including the harmonization and merger of several pension plans into consolidated DB and DC plan texts, negotiation and establishment of a master trust funding arrangement, terminating prior executive supplemental arrangement and establishing a new RCA SERP funded by letter of credit
• Advising a mining client through a plan of arrangement resulting in the assumption and transfer of sponsorship of over a dozen pension and benefit plans, implementation of post closing pension asset transfers pursuant to plan of arrangement, establishment of a pension committee, creation of unified governance procedures and documentation, the merger and termination of several pension plans and establishment of a multi-unit master trust investment structure
• Advising a crown corporation through the division of assets to a newly created crown corporation resulting in a multi-million dollar transfer of pension assets and the negotiation of asset and employee transfer agreements, implementation of post closing and ongoing pension asset transfers
• Advising private equity funds on the acquisition and divestiture of several manufacturing businesses including assumption of various pension and benefits plans and the establishment of other pension and benefit plans
• Advising transportation industry client on the sale of business to private equity fund including the transfer of pension and benefit plans and post retirement benefit obligations
• Advising financial institution on post closing integration of DC members into pre-existing DB plan

Team