Pension Plans

In connection with its acquisition of Atmel, the Company assumed unfunded defined benefit pension plans that cover certain French and German employees. Plan benefits are provided in accordance with local statutory requirements. Benefits are based on years of service and employee compensation levels. Pension liabilities and charges are based upon various assumptions, updated annually, including discount rates, future salary increases, employee turnover, and mortality rates. The Company’s French pension plan provides for termination benefits paid to covered French employees only at retirement, and consists of approximately one to five months of salary. The Company's German pension plan provides for defined benefit payouts for covered German employees following retirement.

The aggregate net pension expense relating to these two plans are as follows (amounts in thousands):



	December 31, 2016
	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
Service costs	$	327	$	1,054
Interest costs	214		698
Amortization of actuarial loss	58		187
Settlements	354		585
Net pension period cost	$	953	$	2,524

The change in projected benefit obligation and the accumulated benefit obligation, were as follows (amounts in thousands):



Projected benefit obligation at April 4, 2016	$	40,313
Service cost	1,054
Interest cost	698
Settlements	585
Actuarial losses (gains)	3,112
Benefits paid	(325		)
Foreign currency exchange rate changes	(648		)
Projected benefit obligation at December 31, 2016	$	44,789
Accumulated benefit obligation at December 31, 2016	41,285

As the defined benefit plans are unfunded, the liability recognized on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2016 was $44.8 million of which $0.7 million is included in accrued liabilities and $44.1 million is included in other long-term liabilities.

Actuarial assumptions used to determine benefit obligations for the plans were as follows at December 31, 2016:



Assumed discount rate	1.49% - 1.77%
Assumed compensation rate of increase	2.40% - 3.00%

The discount rate is based on the quarterly average yield for Euros treasuries with a duration of 30 years, plus a supplement for corporate bonds (Euros, AA rating).

Future estimated expected benefit payments for the remainder of fiscal 2017 through 2026 are as follows (amounts in thousands):



Fiscal Year Ending March 31,	Expected Benefit Payments
2017	$	192
2018	806
2019	929
2020	1,047
2021	1,355
2022 through 2026	9,262
Total	$	13,591

The Company's pension liability represents the present value of estimated future benefits to be paid.

Actuarial losses (gains) for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2016 is comprised of an $8.9 million gain and a $3.1 million loss, respectively, primarily due to movements in the discount rates used to calculate the present value of pension obligations. Net actuarial losses (gains), which is included in accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2016, will be recognized as a component of net periodic cost over the average remaining service period.

The Company's net periodic pension cost for fiscal 2017 is expected to be approximately $3.2 million. Cash funding for benefits paid was $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2016, respectively. The Company expects total contributions to these plans to be approximately $0.5 million in fiscal 2017.