The BDO ES Pension Scheme and the BDO Pension Scheme (the “Schemes”) have secured a £60 million full scheme buy-in with Just Group (“Just”). The Schemes are sponsored by BDO LLP (the “Sponsor”), the accountancy and business advisory firm.
The transaction secures the benefits of all the 100 deferred members and 382 pensioner members in the BDO ES Pension Scheme as well as all 191 deferred members and 330 pensioner members of the BDO Pension Scheme, and covers all of the Schemes’ liabilities.
Significant work was completed to address some complex benefit specification requirements given the acquisitive nature of the Sponsor, meaning each scheme had several categories created from previous mergers. A joint working group was set up with advisers and other parties working closely together for the last 12 months to ensure the transaction could be completed at reasonable cost to the Sponsor.
To provide additional expertise for the transaction, Tiziana Perrella of Dalriada Trustees was appointed to both schemes and Osborne Clarke was added as legal adviser. This supplemented the appointment of Broadstone as lead deal adviser and its longstanding appointment as actuary, administrator, consultant and investment consultant.
Christopher Rice, Deal Lead at Broadstone, said: “While all de-risking transactions require close collaboration, in this case it was particularly necessary given the requirement to resolve complex legacy benefits as well as delivering an affordable transaction for the Sponsor. BDO and Broadstone go back a long way so I am delighted that we could play our part of securing the benefits for all of the Schemes’ members and find an excellent partner, in Just, for the future.”
Richard Faulkner, Trustee Chair for both schemes, commented: “Once the Sponsor indicated their desire to complete a buy-in, I was keen that we moved quickly and assembled a collaborative team to work efficiently to transaction. I was confident Broadstone would deliver given our longstanding relationship, and the addition of Tiziana and Osborne Clarke really added confidence to the Trustee Boards in completing this transaction. It was a pleasure to work so collaboratively with our advisers and the Sponsor to achieve the Sponsor’s objectives and secure a great result for our members.”
Alma Goyanes-Payne, Deal Manager at Just Group, said: “This was another great collaboration with Broadstone to secure the benefits of this scheme. Utilising Beacon, our price monitoring and bulk quotation service, and working closely with the Trustees, we were able to move quickly to ensure the best possible outcome for all members.”
|
