3M announced that it purchased a group annuity contract and will transfer a portion of its U.S. pension payment obligations under the 3M Employee Retirement Income Plan (ERIP) to Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company (Met Tower Life), an insurance company. Under the contract, 3M will transfer approximately $2.5 billion of its defined benefit pension obligations and related plan assets for approximately 23,000 U.S. retirees and beneficiaries to Met Tower Life. This represents approximately 60% of ERIP retiree participants. The contract was purchased using assets from 3M’s ERIP trust and no additional funding contribution was required as part of this transaction.
On October 1, 2024, Met Tower Life will begin paying and administering the retirement benefits of the retirees and beneficiaries included in this annuity transfer. This change will not affect the amount of individuals’ monthly benefit payments. This decision does not impact current employees. Retirees and beneficiaries who are included in this annuity transfer will be notified this month.
In connection with this transaction, the company expects to recognize an estimated non-cash pre-tax non-operating pension settlement charge of between $0.8 and $0.9 billion in the quarter ending June 30, 2024. The actual settlement charge will depend on finalization of actuarial assumptions, including discount rate, as well as the fair value of plan assets as of the measurement date. 3M will exclude this settlement charge in arriving at non-GAAP results. Therefore, it will not impact the Company’s second quarter or full year 2024 adjusted net income or adjusted free cash flow.
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