Vesting and eligibility involving merged companies and merged DB plans

[gle3186]

This issue involves vesting and eligibility of individuals who 1) worked for companies that subsequently merged and 2) participated in DB plans of the companies that merged and the DB plan of the merged companies (which consists of the merged DB plans of the prior companies as various titles in the DB plan of the merged companies). Please excuse the complexity.

Example:

An employee was hired by Company A in 7/91 and left that company in 8/00. He had a deferred vested benefit in Company A's DB plan. Company A was acquired by Company B in 2001. The employee went to work for Company C in 6/02 and became a participant in Company C's DB plan. Company C and Company B merged in 8/02 to form company D. The employee continues to actively participate in Company C's DB plan (which was merged 12/31/03 into the merged DB plan then consisting of the DB plans of Companies A and B).

Company C's DB plan was not amended to recognize service in Company A or Company B for eligibility or vesting at time of merger of Company B and C. As noted above Company C's DB plan merged with the other DB plans at the end of 2003.

As of 1/05, the prior companies are all part of the same controlled group, all the employees work for the same company, and all the heritage DB plans are now merged into one DB plan (with various Titles--the titles consisting of the heritage plans).

The employee had less than a 5 year break in service from termination from Company A to hire by Company C, less than a 5 year break from the date he left employment with Company A and the date Company B and C (he being an employee of C at the time) merged, and less than 5 years from the date he left the employment of Company A to the date he works for a company that contains the merged DB plan of Company A.

He thus has a deferred vested benefit in Company A's DB plan (now a title of the merged plan) but is not yet vested in the Company C's DB plan (another title in the merged plan).

Question--in this fact circumstance example, can the Titles of the merged plan disregard prior service in a different heritage company for eligibility and vesting in a merged plan? If so, what are the relevant dates? If not, from what date or dates must the prior service be recognized.

Thanks for any help/guidance/thoughts on this labyrinthine issue.