v3.26.1
Pensions and Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Pensions and Post-Retirement Benefit Plans Pensions and Post-Retirement Benefit Plans
We maintain defined benefit and defined contribution plans to provide retirement benefits for employees in the United States, as well as employees outside the United States.
During 2024, we initiated a plan to terminate our largest United States qualified pension plan. In 2025, we completed the irrevocable transfer of $84.5 million of pension liabilities and an equal amount of pension assets to an insurance company. In order to achieve this transfer, additional cash funding of approximately $12 million was required in 2025. In the first quarter of 2025, we recorded a settlement loss of approximately $29.0 million, before tax.
In connection with the planned termination of our defined benefit pension plan in the United Kingdom, in 2021, we entered into a buy-in bulk annuity insurance policy in exchange for a premium payment of $67.8 million, which is subject to adjustment as a result of subsequent data cleansing activities. Under the terms of this buy-in insurance policy, the insurer is liable to pay the benefits of the plan, but the plan still retains full legal responsibility to pay the benefits to members using the insurance payments. The buy-in policy will be treated as a plan asset going forward until such time as the buy-in policy is converted to a buy-out policy, which is when individual insurance policies will be assigned to each member of the plan and the plan will no longer have legal responsibility to pay the benefits to the members. The data cleansing effort has been substantially completed and we expect to recognize a pre-tax pension settlement loss of approximately $20 million upon the pension obligation becoming irrevocably settled, the timing of which is uncertain. The timing of the conversion to a buy-out policy and related recognition of the estimated pension settlement loss has been impacted by a ruling from the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom in the case of Virgin Media Limited v NTL Pension Trustees II Limited and Others (the "Virgin Media Case") related to certain amendments to UK pension plans. In April 2026, the UK government approved legislation to address industry wide issues resulting from the Virgin Media Case. This legislation will enable us to proceed with the conversion to a buy-out policy which is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2027 at the latest.
The following table provides the components of net periodic benefit cost for the pension plans:
Three Months Ended
June 30,		Six Months Ended
June 30,
2026202520262025
(Dollars in millions)
Service cost$0.0 $1.3 $0.1 $1.6 
Interest cost0.6 0.7 1.2 1.9 
Expected return on plan assets(0.5)(0.5)(1.0)(1.3)
Amortization of net loss0.3 0.2 0.5 0.6 
Settlement0.0 0.0 0.0 29.0 
Net periodic benefit cost$0.4 $1.7 $0.8 $31.8 
Defined contribution plan expense$1.7 $1.2 $4.6 $4.5