CMS advises Baker Hughes pension plan trustees on £100m buy-in transaction

International law firm CMS has advised the Trustees of the Baker Hughes (UK) Pension Plan on a £100m buy-in transaction with Just Group, a specialist UK financial services group investing in the UK retirement income market. 

Baker Hughes is an international energy technology company with 60,000 employees operating in over 120 countries. The buy-in transaction is one of a series of steps taken by the Trustees over recent years to reduce risk within its £1.3bn pension plan, improving the future security of all its members.

James Parker, CMS partner, comments: “We are very pleased to have helped our long-standing client to achieve this step in its de-risking strategy. The process was highly collaborative and delivered a great result for the Baker Hughes (UK) Pension Plan.”

Chair of trustees for the plan, Venetia Trayhurn of Law Debenture, said, “We are delighted to have completed this transaction with Just. This follows a measured approach to the market with the time invested building the ‘take to market’ proposition reaping rewards. We are grateful to our advisers for navigating us through the process to achieve a successful outcome, with provider selection and execution running seamlessly, all whilst in the early stages of lockdown and the logistical challenges this brought.”

The CMS team was led by James Parker and supported by Katherine Sidders.

The CMS Pensions team has had a raft of successes over the past 12 months, including advising on the UK’s biggest ever pensions buy-out transaction (Stanhope Pension Trust’s £4.7 billion deal with Rothesay Life), the conversion of LV=’s £800m longevity swap into a buy-in with Phoenix Life and advising LifeSight to become the first authorised master trust under The Pensions Regulator’s new authorisation regime. CMS was named Pensions Lawyers of the Year at the UK Pensions Awards 2020 and Law Firm of the Year at the UK Pension and Investment Provider Awards 2020.  Additionally, CMS was named the top firm for Supporting Development at the Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards 2020, where the firm was commended for its well-rounded approach to the professional development of its lawyers.