Smiths Group, the UK tech company sponsoring the TI Group Pension Scheme, has completed a £640m (€759m) buy-in transaction with pensions insurer Rothesay.
The deal completes the scheme’s de-risking journey following six previous pensioner buy-ins over the last 14 years, two of which are already insured with Rothesay, it was announced.
The transaction secures the benefits for all remaining uninsured members of the scheme – defined benefit liabilities for around 800 pensioners and a further 7,950 deferred members – and enables it to progress to buy-out and wind-up over the coming years.
The existing scheme liabilities insured with Rothesay were secured following pensioner buy-ins in 2008 (with Paternoster) and 2011, which currently cover more than 3,900 members.
Rothesay has been working in partnership with the scheme on this transaction for nine months and residual risks are insured for all members covered by the insurer.
Chris Surch, chair of the trustee, said the transaction woudl provide the scheme members with long-term financial security, completing the scheme’s derisking journey.
“Rothesay’s dedication to delivering an appropriate solution was invaluable in completing the transaction. As the UK’s largest specialist insurer of pensions, Rothesay is an ideal partner for the TI Group Pension Scheme and our members can be confident that their future payments are securely protected,” he added.
The lead broker on the transaction was Aon, while legal advice was provided to the trustee by Mayer Brown and to Rothesay by Travers Smith, DLA Piper and Eversheds.
Sammy Cooper-Smith, business development at Rothesay, noted that market demand for de-risking remains strong this year, adding that Rothesay is “well-positioned to help more schemes secure their pension liabilities”.
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