PEMBROKE, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Athene Holding Ltd. (“Athene”) (NYSE: ATH), a leading retirement
services company, announced today a first-of-its-kind pension plan
termination transaction with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY)
covering more than 24,000 active employee participants, retirees,
beneficiaries, and former Bristol-Myers Squibb employees who have not
yet commenced their benefits.
Under the agreement, Athene’s wholly-owned Iowa-domiciled life insurance
subsidiary, Athene Annuity and Life Company (“AAIA”), agreed in advance
to provide an annuity contract covering all obligations of Bristol-Myers
Squibb’s U.S. Retirement Income Plan (the “Plan”) for which the plan
participants do not elect to receive a lump sum payment. Subsequent to
payout of the lump sum obligations in July 2019, it is expected that
AAIA’s annuity contract will cover as much as $3.8 billion of remaining
pension liabilities when the transfer is completed in August 2019,
subject to customary closing conditions.
“We are pleased to have been selected as a trusted partner by
Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global leader in the biopharmaceutical industry,
to serve all of their U.S. Plan participants through this innovative
transaction,” said Sean Brennan, Senior Vice President and Head of
Pension Risk Transfer at Athene. “This transaction represents the
largest full-plan termination to date that includes both retirees and
non-retirees, and we believe this approach may provide a blueprint for
plan sponsors considering full plan terminations in the future.”
Upon completion of the transaction, Athene will provide irrevocable
commitments to all Plan participants and will assume full financial
responsibility, including required administration, for annuity and lump
sum payments. Plan participants have received information packages and
do not need to take any action at this time.
“As a leader in pension risk transfers, Athene is able to provide plan
sponsors with customized solutions to achieve their desired pension risk
and financial objectives while ensuring the financial security of their
plan participants,” said Bill Wheeler, President of Athene. “Our
differentiated investment, actuarial, risk-management, and operational
capabilities, combined with our strong balance sheet, position us well
to serve the $3 trillion defined benefit marketplace.”
Athene is a leader in the pension risk transfer industry, managing
pension payments for more than 80,000 annuitants. During 2018, Athene
has closed six pension risk transfer transactions totaling more than
$1.8 billion.
About Athene Holding Ltd.
Athene, through its subsidiaries, is a leading retirement services
company that issues, reinsures and acquires retirement savings products
designed for the increasing number of individuals and institutions
seeking to fund retirement needs. The products offered by Athene include:
-
Retail fixed and fixed indexed annuity products;
-
Reinsurance arrangements with third-party annuity providers; and
-
Institutional products, such as funding agreements and group annuity
contracts related to pension risk transfers.
Athene had total assets of $118.2 billion as of September 30, 2018.
Athene's principal subsidiaries include Athene Annuity & Life Assurance
Company, a Delaware-domiciled insurance company, Athene Annuity and Life
Company, an Iowa-domiciled insurance company, Athene Annuity & Life
Assurance Company of New York, a New York-domiciled insurance company
and Athene Life Re Ltd., a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer.
Further information about our companies can be found at www.athene.com.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission
is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help
patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about
Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit BMS.com
or follow the Company on LinkedIn,
Twitter,
YouTube
and Facebook.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and certain oral statements made by our
representatives from time to time may contain, forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results, events and developments to differ materially
from those set forth in, or implied by, such statements. These
statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Athene's
management and the management of Athene's subsidiaries. Generally,
forward-looking statements include actions, events, results, strategies
and expectations and are often identifiable by use of the words
“believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “seeks,”
“estimates,” “projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “might,” or “continues”
or similar expressions. Factors that could cause actual results, events
and developments to differ include, without limitation: the accuracy of
our assumptions and estimates; our ability to maintain or improve
financial strength ratings; our ability to manage our business in a
highly regulated industry; regulatory changes or actions; the impact of
our reinsurers failing to meet their assumed obligations; the impact of
interest rate fluctuations; changes in the federal income tax laws and
regulations; the implementation and the accuracy of our interpretation
of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted on December 22, 2017,
and made key changes to the U.S. tax law; litigation (including class
action litigation), enforcement investigations or regulatory scrutiny;
the performance of third parties; the loss of key personnel;
telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems
failures; the continued availability of capital; new accounting rules or
changes to existing accounting rules; general economic conditions; our
ability to protect our intellectual property; the ability to maintain or
obtain approval of the Delaware Department of Insurance, the Iowa
Insurance Division and other regulatory authorities as required for our
operations; and other factors discussed from time to time in Athene's
filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2017, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2018, which can be found at the
SEC’s website www.sec.gov.
All forward-looking statements described herein are qualified by these
cautionary statements and there can be no assurance that the actual
results, events or developments referenced herein will occur or be
realized. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise
forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the
occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating
results.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203005997/en/
Athene Holding Ltd.
Media
Karen Lynn
+1 441
279 8460
+1 515 342 3910
klynn@athene.com
Investors
Noah Gunn
+1 441 279 8534
+1 646 768 7309
ngunn@athene.com
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Media:
Shelly
Mittendorf
+1 609 252 5591
shelly.mittendorf@bms.com
OR
Lisa
McCormick Lavery
+1 609 252 7602
lisa.mccormicklavery@bms.com
Investors:
Tim Power
+1 609 252 7509
timothy.power@bms.com
OR
Bill
Szablewski
+1 609 252 5894
william.szablewski@bms.com
Source: Athene Holding Ltd.