LONDON — Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker whiskey, found an innovative way to plug its gaping pension hole: handing over 2 million barrels of maturing whiskey from its distilleries in Scotland.
Diageo said last week that it would transfer ownership of 430 million pounds ($645 million) worth of whiskey to a pension-financing partnership. Diageo employees will not receive their pensions in whiskey rather than cash, but they will have a guarantee that they will not walk away empty-handed should the company default. “A pension funding partnership will be formed, which will hold maturing whiskey spirit as assets,” Diageo said in a statement.
As part of the deal, Diageo agreed to pay the pension partnership 25 million pounds a year as it sells the recently distilled whiskey once it matures after three years and replaces it with new stock. The agreement will expire after 15 years, at which point Diageo will buy back the whiskey.
Julia Werdigier, The New York Times
