Press releases
Legal & General agrees a c£650m buy-in with Mitchells & Butlers Executive Pension Plan
Legal & General Assurance Society Limited (“Legal & General”) today announces that it has agreed a c£650 million full scheme buy-in with the Mitchells & Butlers Executive Pension Plan (“the Plan”), securing the benefits for all Plan members.
21 Dec 2021
The sponsor, Mitchells & Butlers Plc, has a history dating back to 1898 and operates a number of the UK’s restaurants, pubs and bars, including Harvester and All Bar One.
Today’s announcement marks the Plan’s first pension risk transfer transaction after two years of preparation and price monitoring.
The Plan is an existing client of the Legal & General Group, with its investment management business (“LGIM”) providing management of the Plan’s Defined Contribution (DC) pension scheme assets.
The Trustees were advised on the transaction by XPS and legal advice to the Trustees was provided by Gowling WLG. Macfarlanes provided legal advice to Legal & General.
Celia Monteiro, Director, Legal & General Retirement Institutional: We are delighted to have been able to help the Mitchells & Butlers Executive Pension Plan secure their members’ benefits with us. We worked flexibly with the Trustees over a period of two years to monitor pricing and then helped them to move quickly once a transaction became affordable. This approach demonstrates the value that can be realised by engaging with insurers at an early stage and working with them to achieve a clearly defined pricing target.
For further information:
Margrit Williams
Director of External Engagement
Legal & General Capital
Notes to editors:
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.
1Data as at 31 December 2023.
Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI) works with trustees and sponsoring companies of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of all sizes to settle their pension obligations and secure scheme members’ benefits, through a full range of buy-ins, buyouts and other de-risking solutions. Our Client Services’ 12-month rolling Net Promoter Score (NPS) is above +70, which is widely regarded as being at a “world class” level. Legal & General is the UK’s longest-standing active bulk annuity provider.
Our UK Retirement annuity book stands at an estimated £86.1 billion at 31 December 2023. Across the group over £30 billion is invested in direct investments that deliver positive social and environmental impacts, such as clean energy and affordable housing. Legal & General provides income and pension security to more than a million retirement customers around the world.