A total of 1,400 current and future retirees of White Rose Inc., an independent food wholesaler based in Carteret, N.J., will see their retirement benefits paid by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

White Rose and its affiliates, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 9, are planning to sell its assets in bankruptcy. According to White Rose's filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. will be the lead bidder for its assets. The auction, sale hearing and closing have been scheduled for Oct. 24, 29 and 31, respectively.

White Rose also intends to abandon the pension plan, the Third Amended and Restated Di Giorgio Retirement Plan, which has ended as of Oct. 27. However, PBGC is stepping in and will pay all pension benefits earned by the plan's retirees up to the legal limit of about $59,320 a year for a 65-year-old.