News

Scottish Widows were selected for the buy-in following a competitive process.  The agreement covers approximately 33% of the Scheme’s liabilities.

The buy-in removes longevity, interest rate, and inflation risk for a proportion of the Scheme and is in line with the Group’s strategy of de-risking the pension liabilities. As a result of the transaction, the accounting pension surplus recorded on the Group’s balance sheet will reduce by an estimated £120m with no related cash impact.

LCP acted as lead adviser on the transaction. Legal advice was provided to the Scheme by Gowling WLG and to Scottish Widows by CMS.

Huw Evans of BESTrustees, Chairman of the Scheme, commented:

“This buy-in improves the risk profile and investment efficiency of the Scheme for all members and represents a significant step towards securing the benefits promised. The Trustees are grateful to their advisers and to the Company and its advisers all of whom worked seamlessly together to ensure that the transaction followed an effective and efficient process.”

For further information please contact:

David Bishop, Group Director Investor Relations and Communications:    +44 (0) 7920 108675

Ian Brown, Group Head of Investor Relations:                                         +44 (0) 7908 251123

Jon Hay-Campbell, Group Head of Communications:                              +44 (0) 7500 856953

About BESTrustees

BESTrustees is an unquoted Limited Company, founded in 1992 and is owned by its employees.  We are a leading independent provider of professional trustee services and our client base is as varied as the UK pensions market. We now have over 30 Trustee Executives working with more than 150 clients with assets in excess of £100 billion.