Practice areas

A pension scheme is more than an employee benefit.  In the case of a defined benefit pension scheme, it is likely to constitute a significant corporate liability.  Management of that corporate liability - transferring it, retaining it, pricing it, sharing it or even avoiding any acceleration of the financial obligations - requires technical knowledge, experience and thoughtful communication with trustees.

The impact of a transaction on a group defined benefit pension scheme needs to be considered at the planning stage in order to avoid pension issues becoming an obstacle to the corporate objective, and to avoid or manage any intervention by the Pensions Regulator.

Trustees faced with a transaction also need robust and thoughtful advice about an appropriate response, informed by an understanding of what the wider corporate issues are likely to be.

The Macfarlanes pensions team has extensive experience of advising a wide range of corporate groups, investors, private equity houses and trustee boards on all types of UK and cross-border corporate transactions.