The Michelin Pension and Life Assurance Plan has completed a £1.5bn bulk purchase annuity full-scheme buy-in with Aviva. The transaction, which includes an in-specie transfer of assets, completed in September 2024 and secures the benefits for approximately 15,000 members of the scheme.
“The Trustee is delighted to have improved the long-term security of members’ benefits by completing this buy-in transaction with Aviva. I’d like to place on record our sincere thanks to our full advisory team and to the Michelin Group for its support through the process,” said Vincent Dormieux, Chair of Trustees for Michelin Pension and Life Assurance Plan.
“This is a significant deal showing the strength of our bulk purchase annuity business in securing good outcomes for pension scheme members. We are well positioned to carry out large-scale transactions in addition to our capability in the small and medium scheme market,” added Doug Brown, CEO of Insurance, Wealth and Retirement at Aviva.
The trustee was advised by XPS Group and legal advice was provided by Pinsent Masons.
“We’re really pleased to have led on this important transaction and to have helped the Trustee secure its members’ benefits with Aviva. We were always expecting to see lots of large transactions complete in H2 2024 and we developed a strategy to make this transaction stand out in a busy market. This included simplifying our transaction requirements before going to the insurers and an ‘in-house’ solution to deal with the plan’s illiquid assets,” said Stephen Purves, Head of Risk Settlement at XPS Group.
