Defined Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Certain of our subsidiaries maintain various funded and unfunded defined benefit plans for their employees. A significant portion of these defined benefit plans are closed to new entrants and existing participants do not accrue any additional benefits.

The table below provides summary information on our defined benefit plans:



	Year ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
	in millions

Projected benefit obligation	$	3,200.3	$	1,188.3	$	1,247.6
Fair value of plan assets (a)	$	3,108.7	$	1,092.6	$	1,122.7
Net liability	$	91.6	$	95.7	$	124.9
Net periodic pension cost (b)	$	10.1	$	11.8	$	9.6

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(a)

The fair value of plan assets at December 31, 2016 includes $1,707.4 million, $199.1 million and $1,202.2 million of assets that are valued based on Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 inputs, respectively, of the fair value hierarchy (as further described in note 8). Our plan assets comprise investments in debt securities, equity securities, hedge funds, insurance contracts and certain other assets (including $1,018.3 million of investments valued using Level 3 inputs that are held by the CWSF, as defined and described below).


(b)	The 2016 and 2015 amounts exclude aggregate curtailment gains of $1.4 million and $7.9 million, respectively, which are included in impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net, in our consolidated statements of operations.

At December 31, 2016, the Cable & Wireless Superannuation Fund (the CWSF), which is CWC’s largest defined benefit plan, had (i) a projected benefit obligation of $1,675.7 million, (ii) fair value of plan assets of $1,666.0 million and (iii) a funded status deficit of $9.7 million. During the period from April 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, CWC made cash contributions to the CWSF of $44.3 million (including $1.1 million of contributions made subsequent to the completion of the CWC Acquisition), which was based in part on the triennial actuarial funding valuation as of March 31, 2013. CWC’s acquisition of Columbus constituted a “change of control” under the contingent funding agreement (the Contingent Funding Agreement) between CWC and the trustee of the CWSF and, therefore, the trustee of the CWSF has the right to drawdown on the $123.5 million letters of credit that were put in place in connection with the acquisition of Columbus pursuant to the terms of the Contingent Funding Agreement. Based on the pending outcome of the triennial actuarial valuation as of March 31, 2016, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2017, CWC’s contributions necessary to fund the CWSF by April 2019 are currently expected to range from nil to $28.4 million per year during 2017, 2018 and 2019. CWC is currently in negotiations with the trustee of the CWSF with respect to the future funding requirements of the CWSF and the outstanding letters of credit with a view to addressing the remaining deficit through future contributions over a period of time similar in structure to prior triennial period contribution schedules. No assurance can be given as to the outcome of such negotiations.

Based on December 31, 2016 exchange rates and information available as of that date, our subsidiaries’ contributions to their respective defined benefit plans in 2017 are expected to aggregate $88.2 million, including $29.6 million attributable to the CWSF.