Canada Life, an insurance and financial services company, has completed an £80 million buy-in transaction with the Safeway Pension Scheme, insuring the future benefits of more than 350 deferred members and 1,450 pensioners.
The Safeway Pension Scheme is sponsored by Safeway Stores Limited, part of Morrison Supermarkets Group.
For the deal, Aon acted as lead broker to the Trustees of the scheme, as well as the scheme’s actuarial adviser. Hymans Robertson served as investment adviser.
Clifford Chance and Gowling WLG advised the Trustees on legal matters, while Canada Life was supported by its in-house legal team.
Shreyas Sridhar, Managing Director, Bulk Purchase Annuities at Canada Life, said, “It’s been a real pleasure to be part of this collaboration to help the Safeway Pension Scheme reach a buy-in deal and I would like to thank the Trustees for choosing Canada Life to secure the benefits of its members.
“Collaboration among all parties was vital to achieving an accelerated transaction process. Working to a tight timescale, a joint working group held early admin preparation calls to ensure the scheme’s readiness, and efficient due diligence enabled swift completion of the agreement once Canada Life was exclusive as its insurer.”
Steve Southern, Chair of the Trustees, commented, “As our sixth buy‑in transaction, this is a significant milestone in our long‑term de‑risking journey and underlines the strong collaboration between the Trustees and Morrison Supermarkets Group, working together through our Joint Working Group to secure members’ benefits.”
James Staveley-Wadham, Associate Partner at Aon, said, “We have worked with the Safeway Pension Scheme Trustees on several stages of their de-risking journey, and this buy-in with Canada Life is another important milestone. The Trustees have a highly engaged board, which allowed us to move swiftly while maintaining a clear focus on securing members’ benefits.”
