Tate & Lyle reduces pension risk

7th Dec 2012 07:08

Sweeteners and food products giant Tate & Lyle has agreed to a 347m-pound partial pensioner buy-in which covers nearly half of its total pensioner liabilities.The firm said that the trustee of the its group pension scheme has made the agreement with financial services giant Legal & General about the buy-in which covers around 43% of its commitments, "which effectively hedges these liabilities in full"."Tate & Lyle is committed to meeting our pension commitments to existing and former colleagues," said Chief Financial Officer Tim Lodge."We are delighted the group scheme trustee has secured this agreement with L&G, well known as a high-quality long-standing annuity provider. This transaction is an important step in our strategy to work with our schemes' trustees and fiduciaries to reduce pension risk on a phased basis over time."The company said that the buy-in involves the purchase of a bulk annuity policy under which L&G will pay to the trustee amounts equivalent to the benefits payable to three out of every seven of the scheme's pensioner members. Tate & Lyle said that there will be not material impact on its cash flows or 'adjusted' earnings as a result of the deal.BC