Marvin OnumonuJust Group has completed a buy-in worth around £150m for the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) Pension Scheme, which covers former employees of MGN.
The buy-in, which went through in November 2024, covers about 1,300 pensioners and is the first for the scheme.
It was set up so any future deals with Just Group can be done more quickly.
LCP led on risk transfer advice, with Travers Smith advising the trustees and Aon acting as scheme actuary.
Hymans Robertson and Slaughter and May advised Reach plc, the sponsor, and Gowlings advised Just Group.
This was one of 129 transactions completed by Just Group in 2024, which was a record for the sector.
Kishan Radia, BDM at Just Group, said: “We’re very pleased to have completed this initial pensioner-only buy-in and to provide long-term security for more than 1,000 members.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the Scheme’s Trustees on their de-risking journey over the coming years.
“The insurance de-risking market is working positively for schemes of all sizes and Just is delivering an outstanding service to small schemes, large schemes and everything in between.”
Quentin Woodley, chair of trustees, said: “We are pleased to have completed this pensioner buy-in with Just.
“It is a significant step on our goal to providing long-term security for members’ pensions.
“LCP ran a thorough selection process to help the Trustee choose Just and we worked closely with the Sponsor to agree a transaction structure that achieved all parties’ objectives.”
Charlie Finch, partner at LCP, said: “It has been a privilege to work with the Trustees to help structure and implement this important step.
“Just met the key selection criteria for the Trustees and were pragmatic and commercial in their negotiation approach.
“We are working with a large number of schemes to implement buy-ins as the market continues to be highly active with strong competition for schemes of all sizes.”
Tom Green, senior counsel at Travers Smith, said: “It was a pleasure to work with the Trustees to help them achieve this significant outcome for the Scheme.
“All parties adopted a collaborative approach and we enjoyed working closely with the wider trustee advisory team, Just, Reach and their respective advisers.”
