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):



	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	December 31,				December 31,
	2017		2016		2017			2016
Service costs	$	390	$	327	$	1,131		$	1,054
Interest costs	253		214		742			698
Amortization of actuarial loss	214		—		630			—
Settlements and curtailments	—		354		(36		)	585
Net pension period cost	$	857	$	895	$	2,467		$	2,337

Interest costs and amortization of actuarial losses are recorded in the other income, net line item in the statements of operations. The Company's net periodic pension cost for fiscal 2018 is expected to be approximately $3.3 million. Cash funding for benefits paid was $0.3 million and $0.6 million for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2017, respectively, and $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 $0.7 million in fiscal 2018.