Electronics business Epson UK has completed a £60 million pension buy-in for its Epson UK Pension Scheme.
The deal, which was carried out with financial services firm Just Group and scheme trustee Dalriada, secures the benefits of 113 pensioners and 289 deferred members. The scheme is sponsored by Epson UK and Epson Europe, which are subsidiaries of Japanese technology manufacturing firm Seiko Epson Corporation.
Professional services firm EY acted as an employee benefits consultant throughout the transaction. Just Group received internal legal advice, Gowling WLG provided legal advice to Epson and Osborne Clarke gave legal advice to Dalriada. Corporate advisor Foster Denovo Secondsight provided member communications advice and supported consultations.
Ethaniel Kelly-Wilson, head of HR operations for Epson Europe, said: “Through this transaction, Epson is securing its longstanding pensions promises to scheme members, and we are reassured that all of the affected employees agreed with our business case to make this change. The completion of the buy-in reflects a collaborative working relationship between Epson and the trustee. Over a period of many years, we have built a strategy to de-risk our scheme and get us to a place where a transaction was achievable, and we have managed to achieve this well ahead of schedule.”
Adrian Kennett, director of Dalriada, added: “We are delighted to have enhanced the protection of members’ benefits through the purchase of the policy with Just Group. As sole trustee, our team-based and collaborative approach was central to helping achieve an efficient and effective transaction.”
Eimear Kelly, partner at EY, said: “Just’s indicative pricing process allowed us to get a clear understanding of the costs at the outset and enabled an efficient transaction process once we moved to the point of getting a guaranteed quotation with increased certainty over the transaction price and timing.”