Shoosmiths advises on £42.5m pensions deal

Experts in Shoosmiths’ pensions and banking teams have provided advice on one of the largest pensions deals done in the market.

UK subsidiary of SEI, SEI Investments Europe, entered into a deal to buy XPS Pensions (Nexus) Limited - the principal employer and scheme funder of the NPT master trust - from its parent company, XPS Pensions Group in a £42.5m deal.

The creates a long-term strategic partnership between XPS and SEI Investments Europe - with XPS continuing to support the NPT with pensions administration and consultancy to help ensure continuity of service to members and clients, as well as provide wider support to the SEI Master Trust in the future.

Founded in 2009, NPT is a UK master trust with over 60,000 members and £1.4bn in assets. Total combined assets of NPT and the SEI Master Trust will be approximately £3.4bn.

Shoosmiths pensions team – comprising of pensions partners Paul Carney, Heather Chandler, pensions principal associate Hannah Farley and banking partner David Adams - advised the trustees of the master trust and have advised the trustees on their notification duties to the Pensions Regulator.

Paul Carney, pensions partner at Shoosmiths, commented: “It was a pleasure to have been instructed on this transaction, one of the largest in the pensions industry this year.

“The team has exceptional bench strength in being able to provide advice on high level, complex transactions such as this and can provide additional advice in other areas to support negotiations and the overall transaction, this time we worked alongside our banking colleagues.

“We always aim to deliver excellence and are very pleased to have been able to notify the Pensions Regulator and inform the client that this large deal for the sector is concluding.”

Trustee, Ian Davies, commented: "We had a great working relationship with the team at Shoosmiths which was totally in tune with what we were looking for as trustees". 

Shoosmiths has a leading pensions team which advises in excess of 200 occupational pension schemes - ranging from £1m to more than £1bn in size. Experience covers a broad variety of scheme types, including defined benefit (both final salary and career average schemes), defined contribution and hybrid schemes. The team advises trustees and sponsoring employers, bringing an understanding of both perspectives to inform advice and assist in negotiations. As a large, full-service firm, Shoosmiths can provide a first-class, joined up service with assistance from colleagues in other areas of law – for instance, corporate, real estate, employment advice - for any large or complex transaction.