Aegon UK has agreed the sale of its third-party pensions administration business to employee benefits consultancy Goddard Perry.

The sale means 82 jobs will be saved, because Aegon had announced plans to close this business on 28 September 2010 as part of its UK development strategy.

Goddard Perry approached the pensions provider with an interest in buying the Daresbury-based business, which provides pensions administration and data management services to occupational defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.

The third-party pensions administration business will be changing its name to HS Administrative Services, known as HS Admin.

Adrian Grace, chief operating officer at Aegon UK, said: “We announced last month that the third-party pensions administration business was no longer core to our UK development strategy.

“We have now agreed terms with Goddard Perry which make sense for Aegon, provide continuity for customers and bring brighter long-term prospects for employees at the Daresbury site.”

Steve Goddard, managing director at Goddard Perry, added: “We are delighted with the acquisition and are pleased to announce HS Admin will continue as a fully operational going concern.

“We are very impressed with the quality and loyalty of the staff and the systems they have in place. Indeed, HS clients themselves have been very loyal and patient and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them.”

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