Just Group completes £513 million full scheme buy-in for the GKN Group Pension Scheme

3 March 2023

Transaction secures the benefits of more than 4,000 members

Just Group has completed its largest DB De-risking transaction, a £513 million full scheme buy-in with the Trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme (No. 4), insuring the benefits of some 2,262 pensioners and 1,963 deferred members.

The transaction covers all deferred and pensioner members of the Scheme, removing the investment and longevity risk of the Scheme from the business. GKN Aerospace, the sponsor of the Scheme, is owned by Melrose Industries PLC.

The lead transaction adviser was EY, with Mercer acting as risk transfer advisor to the Trustee. Cardano worked closely with the Trustee on the asset transition. The Trustee legal advisers were Pinsent Mason. Clifford Chance were the legal advisers to Melrose. Just Group maintained internal legal counsel. The Trustee was chaired by Andrew McKinnon.

Peter Jennings, Head of DB Sales at Just, commented: “The team at Just are proud to have worked with Melrose, the Trustees and their advisors in securing the benefits of the GKN Group Pension Scheme (No. 4). This was a textbook example of how stakeholders should collaborate to deliver a very efficient and well executed transaction to achieve excellent outcomes for the Trustees and their members.”

Andrew McKinnon, Independent Trustee, said: “The Trustee is pleased to have reached such a great outcome for our Scheme members which was achieved through a collaborative partnership with the Company (who also provided the extra funding needed to secure the transaction) and with the extensive support of ours and the Company’s advisers. We are pleased to partner with Just on this transaction and now look forward to working closely with them to move to buyout in due course.”

Jonathan Repp, Senior Pensions Consulting Manager at EY, commented: “This was a large, complex transaction that was completed at pace and is set to protect pension scheme members and deliver cost certainty amid uncertain times. With a shared end goal of supporting people financially through later life, it is essential that the right parties can come together to achieve the best outcome.”

Source: Just Group