The Sanofi Pension Scheme has agreed a £760m (€645m) buy-in deal with Legal & General (L&G), securing benefits for approximately 2,900 retirees.

The transaction, which is also the schemes first pension risk transfer (PRT) agreement with L&G, came following its long-term stint as an asset management client of the firm.

The trustee was advised by Aon and legal advice was provided by CMS, while L&G received legal counsel from Macfarlanes on the matter.

Sanofi head of benefits, UK and Ireland and Latin America, and trustee secretary, Lisa Shufflebottom, said: “The yrustee, with support from Sanofi, is very pleased to have secured a buy-in transaction with Legal & General.”

“This buy-in is an important step in our long-term strategy and significantly reduces risk in the Scheme, thereby providing greater certainty about the future costs of providing members’ pensions,” she added.

L&G retirement institutional head of pricing & execution, Gavin Smith, said: “It is always particularly rewarding to work with long-term clients like Sanofi and to enable them to further de-risk their scheme.

"We take pride in providing certainty to trustees and members, and this agreement is another great example of our ability to support schemes at all stages of this journey.”

Buy-in deals have accelerated across the international pensions market this year.

In June, the Tui Group UK Pension Trust agreed two pension risk transfer deals with L&G Assurance Society.

Earlier this month, the Metal Box Pension Scheme secured a £2.2bn pension insurance buy-in with the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).

Speaking on the deal with French multinational Sanofi, Aon partner, Mike Edwards, said: “This buy-in was a great example of how the best value for money risk reduction is achieved through a full understanding of different risk exposures. This knowledge can then inform the right size and shape of transaction design.”

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