Restaurant, pub and bar operator Mitchells and Butlers has completed a £1.2 billion bulk purchase annuity transaction for its pension scheme.
Standard Life, which is part of Phoenix Group, began the transaction in May this year. It covered deferred members and pensioners and secured the retirement incomes of around 20,200 scheme members.
XPS Pensions Group acted as the lead advisers to the trustees, while legal advice was provided by Gowling.
Jonathan Duck, chairman of the trustees of the Mitchells and Butlers pension plan, said: “The trustees are very pleased to have concluded a full buy-in with Standard Life, following a period of strong investment performance and continued support from Mitchells and Butlers, the plan sponsor. The plan advisors, XPS and Gowlings, alongside Standard Life, have also displayed great flexibility in structuring the transaction in such a way that buy-in has been possible several years earlier than anticipated.
“This is an excellent result for all plan members and for Mitchells and Butlers, something that the trustees have worked hard to achieve over the years. Both the Mitchells and Butlers pension plan and Mitchells and Butlers executive pension plan are now secured with buy-in policies, a great resolution to the historic challenge of past pension deficits.”