Linklaters advise TUI GROUP UK Pension Trust on c £800m double buy-in transaction with Legal & General

Linklaters have advised the pension trustee of the TUI GROUP UK Pension Trust, which provides pension benefits for past and present UK employees of the multinational travel and tourism company, TUI Group, on two pension risk transfer transactions to the value of c £800m. The Trust has three sections and the buy-in transactions cover two of those sections.

The two transactions include a £610m partial pensioner buy-in for the BAL section and a £184m full buy-in for the TAPS section of the Trust. These transactions mark the Trustee’s first pension risk transfer transactions with Legal & General.

The Linklaters team was led by Carol Jones, a consultant in the pensions practice and included managing associates Sarah Opie and Elizabeth Forbes.

The transaction further develops the reputation of Linklaters pensions practice for working on some of the largest and most complex buy-in transactions in the industry including in this case a deal that involved the insurance of multiple different benefit structures. Other similar transactions carried out by the practice group include advising the Rolls-Royce pension fund on the record breaking £4.5bn buyout  with Legal & General as well as advising the Trustee of the British American Tobacco pension fund on a £3.4bn buy-in.