Pension Insurance Corporation has concluded a pension insurance buy-in with the Trustee of the Fremantle Group Pension Plan. The transaction covers around £47 million of pensioner and deferred liabilities. The Trustee and FremantleMedia were advised by KPMG in the UK.
FremantleMedia is one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world. Its shows, which include The X Factor, The Apprentice, Britain’s Got Talent, Grand Designs and Neighbours, rank as some of the highest rated prime time entertainment, drama, serial drama, factual entertainment and kids & family programming in the world and win many prestigious industry awards.
Sarah Tingay, Chairwoman of the Trustee, said: “A transaction of this nature is never easy to put together, but with advice from KPMG and a flexible and proactive attitude from PIC, we were able to secure our members’ benefits for the long-term. We selected PIC on the basis of price, security and the ability to structure a transaction that also met the needs of the sponsor.”
Mark Riddleston, Group Finance Director, FremantleMedia, said: “The buy-in is the next stage in our de-risking plan. This has been a collaborative and positive process that has allowed all parties to reach their desired goals. From the Company’s perspective, locking down risk and removing volatility was key, whilst also making sure that members benefited from the enhanced security for their pensions afforded by the insurance regime. The PIC team was flexible throughout the transaction.”
Ben McDonald, Partner at KPMG said: “This is a significant milestone in FremantleMedia’s pensions de-risking strategy and we are pleased to advise jointly the Trustee and sponsor throughout this complex transaction. Our specialist insurance team worked with PIC to design and implement a deal that achieves the specific objectives of both the Trustee and sponsor.”
Uzma Nazir, Actuary, at Pension Insurance Corporation, said: “We are delighted to have been able to design a transaction to meet both the Trustee’s and sponsor’s needs, with pricing terms that were within their targets. We expect to see further transactions involving deferreds as well as pensioners in 2014 if market conditions remain as they are or improve.”
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