Blue Bird Corp 8-K

What Happened
Blue Bird Corporation (through subsidiary Blue Bird Body Company), filed an 8-K reporting that its frozen defined benefit Blue Bird Body Company Employee Pension Plan entered an agreement with Pacific Life Insurance Company and Pacific Life & Annuity Company to purchase group annuity contracts that transfer future benefit obligations and annuity administration for 2,044 plan participants. The Company expects the transaction to close on May 19, 2026 and for Pacific Life to assume liability for payments as of August 1, 2026.

Key Details

• The Plan paid about $13 million in April 2026 in lump-sum distributions to participants who elected that option.
• Remaining Plan liabilities after those lump sums were approximately $94 million as of the end of April 2026; most of this will be settled via the annuity purchase.
• The Plan will pay a confidential premium to Pacific Life for the group annuity contracts; that premium is stated to be less than total Plan assets.
• The transactions are to be funded entirely from Plan assets — the Company says no additional contributions will be required — and the Plan will terminate after the transfers (or after any required transfer to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation).

Why It Matters
For investors, this reduces Blue Bird’s ongoing pension administration and future benefit obligations tied to these plan participants by shifting them to an insurance company. The company expects to record a material non‑cash pension settlement charge in its fiscal Q3 ending June 27, 2026; the final amount depends on actuarial remeasurement and fair value of Plan assets. The deal is funded from Plan assets (not corporate cash), so the company does not anticipate additional cash contributions, but the settlement charge may affect reported earnings for the quarter.