Just Group has completed a £513m full scheme buy-in with the trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme (No. 4), which the insurer claimed to be its “largest defined benefit de-risking transaction”. 

The deal secures the benefits of some 2,262 pensioners and 1,963 deferred members. GKN Aerospace, the sponsor of the scheme, is owned by Melrose Industries. 

Peter Jennings, head of DB sales at Just, said: “This was a textbook example of how stakeholders should collaborate to deliver a very efficient and well executed transaction to achieve excellent outcomes for the trustees and their members.” 

The trustee was chaired by Andrew McKinnon. 

He said: “The trustee is pleased to have reached such a great outcome for our scheme members which was achieved through a collaborative partnership with the company, who also provided the extra funding needed to secure the transaction, and with the extensive support of ours and the company’s advisers. We are pleased to partner with Just on this transaction and now look forward to working closely with them to move to buyout in due course.” 

The GKN Group Pension Scheme closed for DB accrual from June 2017. It was split into four schemes in June 2019, with differing employer support, following the acquisition of GKN by Melrose Industries in 2018. 

The lead transaction adviser was EY. Jonathan Repp, senior pensions consulting manager at the consultancy, described the transaction as “large” and “complex” that was completed at pace.

Mercer acted as risk transfer advisor to the trustee. Cardano worked closely with the trustee on the asset transition. The trustee’s legal advisers were Pinsent Mason. Clifford Chance provided legal advice to Melrose. Just Group maintained internal legal counsel.