Vending machine business Selecta UK has completed a £250 million full scheme buy-in for its pension plan members.
According to the business, the move “significantly” reduces future pension funding risk from its point of view, as it provides all stakeholders with more business certainty and also aligns with actions taken to support and secure members’ benefits.
Financial services provider Legal and General have covered the liabilities for the plan’s approximately 1,000 deferred members and 1,000 pensioner members. Financial consultant Hymans Robertson was the lead transaction adviser and legal advice was provided by law firm Pinsent Masons.
Dinesh Visavadia and Nita Tinn, both lead directors at Independent Trustee Services (ITS), the professional corporate sole trustee of the plan, commented that it is “pleasing” to reach this point in the plan’s journey and secure members’ benefits with the transaction.
“The trustee together with their advisers, Hymans Robertson and Pinsent Masons, worked with the company on this long journey carefully de-risking to improve the security of the plan benefits. Hymans Robertson were diligent in identifying a market opportunity which helped us move quickly to take advantage of it through a well-run and robust process, securing excellent terms with Legal and General and significantly improving security for our members,” they said.
Kieran Mistry, senior risk transfer specialist at Hymans Robertson and lead adviser on the transaction, added that his team are “very pleased” to have helped the trustee secure this buy-in, removing the majority of the plan’s risks.
“As a professional corporate sole trustee, we were able to work swiftly and nimbly with ITS to take advantage of a short-term period of relative quiet in the buy-in market over the first half of 2021. The result was a highly competitive broking process, with Legal and General presenting a compelling and tailored proposition,” he said.