Printers pension £130 million buy in deal with Norwich Union

Trustees of West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme have announced a £130 million pensioner buy-in deal with Norwich Union.

West Ferry Printers is national newspaper printing company which counts the Financial Times, Sport Newspapers and Express Newspaper among its clients.

Individual members’ benefits are unchanged and the 1,300 current pensioners will remain as members of the scheme, although the risks associated with paying benefits to those pensioners will now rest with Norwich Union.

John Pannett, the chairman of the trustees, said: “This is a tremendous result for the trustees and for the pension scheme members. The trustees were keen to improve the security of members’ benefits while taking advantage of current competitive pricing in the buyout market and the company was fully supportive of the process.”

Lane Clark & Peacock were the lead adviser to the trustees on the transaction. Partner David Lane said: “This latest transaction follows hot on the heels of  the recent £1bn pensions buy-in by the Cable & Wireless scheme and brings the total deals written this year to nearly £7bn.”