It is important to identify early on whether there is any pension plan involved and, in particular, whether that plan is a defined benefit pension plan or a multiemployer pension plan. Any pension plan can impact deal timing, purchase price and corporate reorganization steps. Further, defined benefit pension plans will have annual funding requirements, and any underfunding can become a liability of the employer if the regulators deem the plan at risk and seek to terminate the plan. Also, a multi-employer collectively bargained pension plan can trigger substantial withdrawal penalties. A multi-employer collectively bargained pension plan is a separate plan maintained by a union in which many unrelated employers participate. When an employer ceases or sufficiently decreases contributions to the plan (e.g., a layoff or negotiation out of the obligation to contribute), it generally must pay its allocable share of the plan’s unfunded benefit obligations, which depends, in part, on the employer’s prior contributions and can be substantial depending on the funded status of the plan. Many of these liabilities are controlled group liabilities – so the in-scope entity may have potential liability if there is any pension in the controlled group even if the plan has nothing to do with the in-scope entity.