Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) – Legal & General Assurance Society Limited today announced that it has completed a £2.4 billion buyout for the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan, covering around 15,500 pensioner members and around 7,200 deferred members.
The Plan’s sponsor went into administration in 2009 and the Plan entered a Pension Protection Fund assessment period, where it has remained whilst insolvency proceedings were on-going. With these proceedings now resolved, the Plan has been able to secure benefits in excess of PPF levels and will exit the PPF having secured the buyout with Legal & General.
The financial metrics and Solvency II capital strain of this transaction are in line with previous levels reported by Legal & General.
Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive, Legal & General Group, said:
“This transaction brings our total volume for global pension de-risking business to more than £8.4 billion for the year to date, a new record for us. Legal & General’s UK pipeline is stronger than we have ever seen, with £25 billion currently in active pricing discussions following the completion of the Nortel buyout. Our international pipeline is also the strongest we have ever experienced.
The Nortel transaction illustrates the diverse range of situations to which buy-ins and buyouts can provide solutions to enhance outcomes for members, scheme sponsors and in this case the PPF: as the PRT market grows in volume, we also expect it to grow in diversity.”
Laura Mason, CEO Legal & General Retirement Institutional, said:
“We are pleased to have been able to deliver this significant transaction which provides flexibility and greater financial security to the members of the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan.
The collaborative relationship built up with KPMG and the Trustee, working closely together, enabled us to deliver a complex solution to meet the needs of the Trustee and Plan members, whilst delivering to tight timescales.
This transaction continues to demonstrate our solutions driven proposition, while providing wider benefits for the pension environment and the UK economy as we deliver further direct investments.”
