AK Steel Announces Pension Risk Transfer

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company will take on the pension liabilities from AK Steel Holding Corp. for 4,250 retirees on March 1, 2020.  This pension risk transfer allows West Chester, Ohio based AK Steel to transfer $615 Million in pension liabilities and marks its second pension de-risking transaction with Massachusetts Mutual.  In 2018, AK Steel transferred approximately $280 Million in pension liabilities effecting 5,400 retirees. On Wednesday, November 21, 2109, the company announced: “We are pleased to have completed another annuity transaction, which brings the total pension obligations we have transferred to highly-rated annuity providers to about $1.1 billion over the past three years,” said Roger K. Newport, Chief Executive Officer of AK Steel. “This is another important step in de-risking our balance sheet, while continuing to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring our retirees’ benefits are secure.” As a result of this transfer, AK Steel will record a non-cash pension settlement charge of $25 Million in Q4 2019.