The pension scheme for an unnamed engineering and construction company has agreed a £37m buyout with Just Group, securing the retirement benefits of 34 pensioners and 132 deferred members.

The deal marks the third and final de-risking agreement between the scheme and Just Group, following two previous deals completed in 2013 (split into two phases) and 2017.

All 350 scheme members (220 pensioners and 130 deferred members) are now covered, with total scheme liabilities of around £75 million insured by Just Group through the three transactions.

Mercer acted as lead risk transfer adviser and the trustees recevieved legal advice from Stephenson Harwood, while Just Group received internal legal advice.

Trustee chair and partner at Pan Trustees, Lynne Stewart-Brindle, highlighted the deal as "the culmination of a multi-year project to systematically de-risk the scheme", stating: "The trustee board is delighted to have completed this important transaction with Just.

"It has involved much hard work, truly excellent engagement and planning between the trustees and sponsor, and great teamwork with our advisers.

"Everybody has played their part, and I am personally thrilled with the outcome. We now look forward to building on this success and working with Just in the next phase of our journey."

Business development manager at Just Group, Ross Breckon, added: "It gives the team a great sense of achievement when we’re awarded repeat transactions, it tells us we’re delivering what trustees and their members want and need.

"It rounds off a decade of hard work and collaboration with the trustees and their advisers to enable the scheme and their 350 members to reach the endgame successfully.

"This transaction and our pipeline going into 2024 shows there’s a busy and vibrant bulk annuity market that’s open for schemes of all sizes."

Adding to this, principal at Mercer, John Martin, also highlighted the deal as a "testament" to the hard work and commitment of the trustees and sponsor to secure benefits for their members over the course of more than a decade.

"It demonstrates that with the right intentions and a collaborative approach, even in this busy market it is possible to do great deals even for schemes at the smaller end of the scale," he added.

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