Pinsent Masons advises Legal & General on the UK's largest pension buyout to date

28 Nov 2014 | 12:34 pm |

International law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Legal & General’s retirement business on a £2.5 billion partial buyout with the TRW Pension Scheme. The deal will see these liabilities removed from TRW Automotive’s balance sheet, insuring over 22,000 of the Scheme’s pensioners. This is the largest pension buyout in the UK to date and follows Legal & General’s £3.0 billion bulk annuity buy-in arrangement with the ICI Pension Fund.

Pinsent Masons pensions partner Matthew de Ferrars said: "This buy-out is part of a continuing trend of pension schemes and their employers going to the insurance market to secure scheme liabilities on an “all risks” basis. Pinsent Masons has worked on a number of high profile buy-ins, buyouts and longevity swaps including Babcock, MF Global, Cadbury’s, Denso, NSPCC and Uniac.”

Commenting on the deal Legal & General’s Nicole Kennedy said: “Matthew de Ferrars and his team were approached at very short notice but immediately got to grips with the task and provided clear, timely and pragmatic advice. From our perspective, the exercise was managed effectively, particularly given the scale of the project.” 

Pinsent Masons were able to deliver this transaction to the exceptionally short timetable by deploying a team of 17 specialist pension lawyers from its London, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow offices. This cross-office team was led by pensions partner Matthew de Ferrars with support from senior associates Rob Lawrence and Rob Tellwright.

Latest press releases

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons hires senior finance partner Nick Tostivin to lead its Finance team in London

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed partner Nick Tostivin to join its rapidly expanding financial services team in London, where he will lead the Finance team.

Pinsent Masons recognised in China Business Law Journal's Deals of the Year 2023

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has been recognised in the Projects Deal of the Year category of the China Business Law Journal’s (CBLJ) Deals of the Year 2023 list for the firm’s work on the landmark NEOM Smart City Project in Saudi Arabia.

Pinsent Masons advises Bestinver Infra, FCR on acquisition of remaining shares in Irish toll road concession & operation companies

Pinsent Masons has advised Bestinver Infra, FCR on the acquisition of the remaining shares in N6 (Concession) Holdings Limited and N6 (Operations) Ltd, with Japanese co-investor Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd.

People who viewed this press release also viewed

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons hires senior finance partner Nick Tostivin to lead its Finance team in London

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed partner Nick Tostivin to join its rapidly expanding financial services team in London, where he will lead the Finance team.

Pinsent Masons advises Lloyds Bank on £62 million fund to invest in sustainable business and regional development

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Lloyds Bank on the launch of a £62 million investment fund to help small businesses across England and Wales access finance to support local jobs and economic activity.

Pinsent Masons hires Charlotte Scholes as new pensions litigation partner in London

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed pensions litigation partner Charlotte Scholes to join the firm’s financial services sector in its London office.

For all media enquiries, including arranging an interview with one of our spokespeople, please contact the press office on

+44 (0)20 7418 8199 or 

Location contacts

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.