Mueller Co. finalizes terminations of retirement plans

Paul Mueller Co. (OTC: MUEL) has completed the terminations of a pair of retirement plans about a year after announcing plans to do so.

The Springfield-based stainless steel manufacturer this week announced in a news release its contract employee retirement plan and noncontract employee retirement plan had officially been terminated.

The changes were announced in late 2022, at which time Mueller Co. officials indicated the approval process with the IRS would take about a year.

"The terminations will result in a non-cash reduction in 2023 pretax earnings of approximately $42 million," officials said in the release.

Mueller Co. officials say they contributed an additional $7.4 million to complete the termination process. Impacted participants in the plans are receiving either a lump sum payment or monthly annuity payment provided by Principal Life Insurance Co.

"Both plans have been frozen since 2010/2011," Mueller Co. Chief Financial Officer Ken Jeffries told Springfield Business Journal in November 2022. "The company will fund the plans so the assets equal the plan’s obligations before terminating the plans."

In the SBJ article last year, Jeffries said approximately 111 active employees and 453 former employees were impacted by the decision.

The company's over-the-counter stock opened this morning at $54.50 per share, compared with a 52-week range of $40.88 to $55 per share.