Completion of Group pension buy-in and return of £17.5m escrow funds
FirstGroup completes £90m pension buy-in and returns £17.5m escrow funds to the Group.
- Group Section Pension liabilities bought in c.£90 million
- Escrow funds returned to Group £17.5 million
- Group Section escrow utilised c.£22 million
- Remaining Bus Section escrow c.£44 million
- Pension obligations settled since 2020 c.£1.7bn
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FirstGroup plc (the `Group') has completed the buy-in of its c.£90 million Group Section Pension liabilities.
The Group Section escrow of c.£22 million has been utilised to complete the transaction. £17.5 million has been returned to the Group and £2.1 million applied towards the buy-in premium. The balance of c.£2.7 million has been retained in escrow to cover transaction legal and advisory costs and ultimately convert this to buy-out in the near term.
The Group retains c.£44 million in escrow relating to the Bus Section that will be reviewed as part of the 2030 triennial valuation.
Commenting, Ryan Mangold, FirstGroup Chief Financial Officer said:
"Since 2020, we have settled c.£1.7bn of pension obligations, securing the pensions of former employees, substantially reducing pension risk and realising value for the Group. Our remaining pension schemes are well funded, and our focus remains on managing them efficiently while maintaining a strong balance sheet to support our capital allocation priorities."
| Contacts at FirstGroup: Marianna Bowes, Head of Investor Relations Stephen Bethel, Director of Brand & Communications corporate.comms@firstgroup.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354 | Contacts at Brunswick Group: Simone Selzer / Charlotte Millington Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 |
| Contacts at Panmure Liberum: Nicholas How / Satbir Kler Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000 | Contacts at RBC Europe Limited: James Agnew / Elliot Thomas Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000 |
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