UK - French oil company totalFinaElf has hired consultants Hewitt Bacon and Woodrow to act as advisor on its newly merged 1 billion pound (1.57 billion euro) UK pension fund. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hewitt Bacon said in a news release that it has won the actuarial, pensions and investment consultancy work for the TFE companies in the UK.

Richard Block of Hewitt Bacon says: "We believe this will be one of the biggest tenders this ear and the work involved will offer a considerable challenge."

Following the creation of TotalFinaElf in 2000 and 2001, TotalFinaElf merged its 13 existing UK schemes into one, under the custody of Northern Trust.

Lester Farrant, manager of the TotalFinaElf UK Pension Plan, said that the process of consolidating the schemes was complex and that the selection process to choose an advisor was "very vigorous".