WYG Secures Remaining Pension Scheme Liabilities

WYG plc Secures Remaining Pension Scheme Liabilities

WYG plc, (WYG or the Group) the global project management and technical consultancy, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement which enables the Trustees of the WYD Pension Scheme (Scheme) to transfer all the risks associated with the Scheme to a specialist insurer.

The Scheme is the Group's only remaining defined benefit scheme and has been closed to new members for some years. The Scheme provides defined pension benefits for certain ex-employees of WYG and its predecessor companies. The agreement secures full member benefits with no additional financial support being required from WYG, removing any associated risk from WYG's balance sheet.

Also under the agreement, the Scheme's Trustees have the option to convert the transaction to a buy-out, which will completely remove the Scheme from WYG's balance sheet and eliminate any remaining exposure to defined benefit pension liabilities. The Scheme's Trustees have indicated that they intend to proceed on this basis as soon as reasonably practicable with the aim of completing the buy-out during 2016. It is anticipated that this will result in there being a surplus in the Scheme of up to £0.5 million which, in due course, will be returned to the Group.

Paul Hamer, Chief Executive Officer, WYG plc commented:

"We are very pleased to have reached this agreement which effectively eliminates any risk to WYG from the last of its legacy defined benefit schemes. We believe that this solution offers a very secure outcome to Scheme members whilst delivering a positive, nil-cost outcome for WYG."

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