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Employee Benefit Plans
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Employee Benefit Plans Disclosure [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans Disclosure [Text Block]

11. Employee Benefit Plans

Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, or UK, Harvard Apparatus Limited and Biochrom Limited, maintain contributory, defined benefit or defined contribution pension plans for substantially all of their employees. As of September 30, 2014, the principal employer of the Harvard Apparatus Limited pension plan was changed from Harvard Apparatus Limited to Biochrom Limited. As of September 30, 2014, these defined benefit pension plans were closed to new employees, as well as closed to the future accrual of benefits for existing employees. The components of the Company’s defined benefit pension expense were as follows:

Three Months EndedNine Months Ended
September 30,September 30,
2014201320142013
(in thousands)
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Service cost$ - $ 84 $ - $ 235
Interest cost 200 209 649 583
Expected return on plan assets(147)(137)(478)(383)
Net amortization loss 40 65 131 181
Net periodic benefit cost$ 93 $ 221 $ 302 $ 616

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Company contributed $0.2 million and $0.6 million, respectively, to its defined benefit pension plans. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company contributed $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively, to its defined benefit pension plans. The Company expects to contribute approximately $0.2 million to its defined benefit pension plans during the remainder of 2014.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2014 the Company wrote down its Level 3 investment in a longevity fund by an additional $0.6 million, which reduced its value to $0. The impact on accumulated other comprehensive loss was $0.5 million, net of tax. The longevity fund invests in a portfolio of physical life insurance settlements that had been historically valued using the net asset values provided by the fund. Since June 2011, the fund has been closed to all activity. The write down during the nine months ended September 30, 2014 was due, in part, to communication from the longevity fund regarding its continued illiquidity and inactivity.

As of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company had an underfunded pension liability of approximately $5.4 million and $4.9 million, respectively, included in the other liabilities – non-current line item in the consolidated balance sheets.