Friday, October 12, 2012

Ever since the PBGC?s 2007 opinion that a private equity fund with a controlling interest can be liable for a portfolio company?s pension problems, there is increased evidence that corporate transactions can go seriously awry if ERISA benefit plans are not properly addressed. Legal issues are not the only risk factor that could cause a merger, acquisition, spin-off or carve-out to fail to materialize. Low interest rates, investment lock-ups, participant longevity and complex vendor contracts are a few of the challenges that must be confronted by the legal and finance team in charge of due diligence. And with virtually every defined benefit plan facing funding issues in light of these circumstances, the PBGC is extremely proactive in seeking concessions to not interfere with corporate transactions yet hold parties who may have responsibility for unfunded liabilities accountable. Headlines are replete with articles about deals that were stalled or failed because ERISA due diligence was given short shrift. In 2010, the acquisition of a major chemical company took less than six months but coordinating the relationships with defined contribution managers took nearly two years to wrap up. Talks between a large manufacturing company and a potential target company are currently focused on how best to tackle the acquiree?s multi-billion dollar pension fund gap. In the aftermath of the settlement of a recent case, private equity firms and limited partners continue to be jittery about joint and several liability for pension plan funding gaps, making it harder to take a portfolio company public or sell. Taken together, the most important thing that a potential corporate buyer and its counsel can do is to acknowledge the importance of proper due diligence. These problems are not going away and arguably could get much worse.

Join Dr. Susan Mangiero, CFA, certified Financial Risk Manager and Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst and senior ERISA attorney Lawrence K. Cagney to talk about ways to keep a deal from derailing and to avoid buyer?s remorse due to an incomplete assessment of pension plan economics on enterprise value.

Join us to hear speakers talk about critical steps and lessons learned from their experience, to include the following:

• How to revise investment and/or hedging strategy and policy statement(s) when organizations merge;
• Elements of an ERISA service provider due diligence analysis when plans are combined;
• Red flags for an institutional investor to consider when seeking to allocate to private equity portfolios with ?pension-heavy? companies that may be hard to exit without costly restructuring;
• Assuring that participant communication is comprehensive;
• Role of the corporate finance attorney versus ERISA counsel; and
• Installing knowledgeable fiduciaries for the new and/or merged employee benefit arrangements.

Click to register for "Pensions and Corporate Finance: How to Avoid Buyer's Remorse," sponsored by the Practising Law Institute on November 15, 2012 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT.