Crown Holdings to transfer $740M in U.S pension plan obligations

Crown Holdings announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company to fully guarantee benefits covered under the contract for nearly all of the retirees and deferred vested participants in its primary US defined benefit plans. The transaction provides a policy which covers the benefits for approximately 12,000 participants. MassMutual will make payments to participants starting November 1, 2024. Benefits payable to the retirees and other plan participants will not be affected by the transaction. The company expects to contribute approximately $100M to the plan and to record a one-time non-cash charge of approximately $450M ($340M after tax) in the third quarter of 2024 as a part of the plan settlement. The company reaffirms its previously provided 2024 full year adjusted free cash flow guidance of at least $750M.