CMS advises House of Fraser Trustee on £600m pension buy-out

International law firm CMS has advised the Trustee of House of Fraser Beaties & Jenners Pension Scheme in relation to its c. £600m pension insurance buy-out transaction with Pension Insurance Corporation. The transaction covers 3,850 deferred members and 5,050 pensioners.

House of Fraser went into administration in August 2018 and the pension scheme subsequently entered a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment. The CMS Pensions team, whose relationship with the House of Fraser Trustee spans over 25 years, has advised the Trustee on the entirety of the matter including on the insolvency proceedings and the PPF process. 

The Trustee was advised by CMS pensions partners Mark Jenkins and Emma Frost. 

CMS Pensions Partner Mark Jenkins, comments: “The Trustee’s focus throughout the PPF process has been to provide members with certainty and long-term security for their benefits. This transaction with PIC achieves that objective. It is very pleasing for our team to have been able to support our client with this transaction and achieve a very positive outcome for the scheme members, who will receive higher benefits than they would have in the PPF.”

This transaction is the latest example of CMS’s market leading reputation in pension scheme de-risking transactions. It is also the latest in what continues to be a very busy period for the team, having most recently advised the Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund on its £1.8bn transaction with Standard Life and the Trustee of the Sanofi Pension Scheme on a £760m buy-in with Legal & General.