London, 19 January 2021 – Global law firm Hogan Lovells is pleased to announce that it acted for Evonik Pension Scheme Trustee Limited (the “Trustee”) in its entry into a £544mil bulk purchase annuity contract with Legal & General Assurance Society Limited.

The transaction was unusually complex, as it involved the merger of four pension schemes in the Evonik group into one, so one buy-in contract could cover all deferred members and pensioners of the schemes. As part of the transaction one of the schemes closed to future accrual of benefits, and we also negotiated with Evonik amendments to the contingent security arrangements standing behind the schemes. The entire transaction took exactly 3 months from start to finish in the end of 2020.

The transaction benefits members by enhancing the security of their benefits since the scheme’s liabilities are now backed by a major FCA & PRA-regulated insurance company as well as Evonik.

Edward Brown (Partner) led the transaction on behalf of Hogan Lovells, assisted by Charlotte Yeates (Senior Associate) and Jade Rigby (Associate), with input from Hogan Lovells’ insurance, data protection and employment teams.

Edward Brown commented: “Securing a buy-in has been the principal strategic objective for the Trustee for many years, so we are delighted to have helped them complete this complex, multi-faceted and time-pressured transaction.”

Colin Marsh, the chair of the Trustee, commented: “With support from Evonik the Trustee Board is delighted to have improved the long term security of members’ benefits across all 4 schemes. This outcome would not have been achieved without the initiatives, imagination and quick thinking of Edward Brown and his team, working under considerable time pressures.”