UK - Xafinity Consulting has agreed a deal to acquire the UK trustee and scheme administration business of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction will complete on 13 August, at which point Xafinity will take over PwC's scheme actuary, trustee investment consulting and scheme administration services after PwC took a strategic decision to cease operating in this market.

It follows the purchase of Hazell Carr by Xafinity in 2008, and the recent takeover of Xafinity by private equity firm Advent earlier this year.

Advent said the latest acquisition would help it become a "consolidator" in the pensions market.

The acquisition will create new offices in Belfast and Manchester and expand existing locations.

Approximately 50 PwC actuaries, investment consultants and administrators will be transferred to Xafinity Consulting.

PwC noted it had decided to withdraw from the market of providing trustees with scheme actuary and scheme administration services to focus "solely on the areas of our business where we feel we can add the most value" to corporate sponsors and trustees in the UK.

Robert Birmingham, managing director of Xafinity Consulting, said: "The acquisition adds to our already extensive capabilities and better fits us to meet the increasing needs of our corporate and trustee clients."

Michael Rendell, partner and global head of human resource services at PwC, said: "We want to provide clients with the broad-based advisory services we offer across the firm.

"It is in the best interest of both the firm and our clients for the scheme actuary role to be managed by a third party.

"The trustee clients and the PwC people transferring will benefit from the ongoing investment Xafinity is making in building its trustee business."

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