Athene Holding Ltd. (“Athene”) (NYSE: ATH), a leading retirement services company, announced a pension buyout agreement with Armstrong World Industries (“Armstrong”) (NYSE: AWI), a leader in the design and manufacture of innovative commercial and residential ceiling, wall and suspension system solutions in the Americas. Under the terms of the transaction, Athene’s wholly-owned Iowa-domiciled life insurance subsidiary, Athene Annuity and Life Company (“AAIA”), and Athene’s wholly-owned New York-domiciled life insurance subsidiary, Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York (“AANY”), have agreed to provide annuity benefits for approximately 10,000 retirees who are currently receiving benefits from Armstrong’s pension plan.

In aggregate, Armstrong is transferring approximately $1 billion in pension obligations to Athene. “We are pleased to have been selected as a trusted partner on behalf of Armstrong to help reduce the company’s pension risk through this transaction,” said Sean Brennan, EVP of Pension Risk Transfer and Flow Reinsurance of Athene.

“Our differentiated investment, actuarial, risk-management, and operational capabilities combined with our strong balance sheet, position us well to serve Armstrong and the broader market. Athene is committed to solutions that help plan sponsors meet their financial obligations while ensuring the financial security of their plan participants.”

Under the agreement, AAIA and AANY will each issue a group annuity contract to Armstrong and individual annuity certificates to applicable retirees. AAIA and AANY will have direct payment responsibility for all the liabilities covered in this transaction.

Athene is a leader within the pension risk transfer industry, responsible for providing income security for more than 178,000 annuitants representing approximately $12 billion of obligations globally.

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