Countrywide Farmers has agreed to a £100 million bulk annuity transitions for its retirement benefits scheme for 360 deferred members and 712 retirees. The scheme was first initiated in March 2018, entering a pension protection fund, negotiated with Legal and General. The successful deal enables the organisation to secure benefits with Legal and General while providing more flexibility over additional benefits to be secured in the future.The Scheme was advised by LCP, legal advice was provided by Gowling WLG and Osborne Clarke, while Clifford Chance provided legal advice to Legal and General. Richard Mills, partner at LCP, said: “We are delighted to have helped the trustee to deliver retirement certainty to members of the Countrywide Farmers Scheme, following the insolvency of Countrywide Farmers plc. Working closely with Legal and General, we designed a structure to enable the trustee to secure terms up-front for benefits over Pension Protection Funds (PPF) levels, with the ability to top up members’ benefits when further recoveries are received during the insolvency proceedings. The policy gives the trustee significant flexibility if the insolvency proceedings take time to resolve.”
