LONDON–Is there nothing the caramel color liquid can't do? Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker whiskey, found an innovative way to plug a gaping deficit in its pension plan: put aside 2 million barrels of maturing whiskey from its distilleries in Scotland.
The International Herald Tribune reports Diageo will transfer ownership of ?430 million ($645 million) worth of whiskey to a pension funding partnership. But the paper notes Diageo employees would not receive their pensions in whiskey rather than cash, but the move does give them a guarantee that they would not walk away empty-handed should the company default.
"A pension funding partnership will be formed, which will hold maturing whiskey spirit as assets," the company said in a statement.
