J.C. Penney Co. Inc. on Friday unveiled a plan to reduce its pension obligations by $5 billion, or 25% to 35%. The company said it has already completed a lump-sum offer to participants in the pension plan and entered an agreement with The Prudential Insurance Company of America to purchase a group annuity contract that will settle a portion of its remaining retiree pension obligations. Once the deals are closed, the company expects the plan to remain over-funded and does not expect to make cash contributions for the foreseeable future. About 12,000 retirees elected to accept lump-sum payments, while 1,900 former employees with deferred vested benefits agreed to take voluntary lump-sum payments. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but have gained 43% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 6.6%.
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