Cooper Tire to make $39M pension payment

8/14/2009

FINDLAY The government agency that regulates defined benefit pension programs has agreed to a settlement deal with Findlay-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. to resolve a $62 million shortfall in its pension plan that resulted, in part, from its closure of a plant in Albany, Ga.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said it had negotiated a deal with Cooper that allowed the company to make an additional $39 million payment into its Spectrum Retirement Plan, which covers about 7,000 active and retired employees of the tire maker. The PBGC agreed to waive a $23 million carryover balance that could have reduced future funding contributions, the agency said.