Pension funds announce agreement on Refinitiv mitigation

The transaction, concluded on Monday, resulted in the creation of a new company, Refinitiv, owned 55 per cent by private equity investors headed by Blackstone and 45 per cent by Thomson Reuters.

“This agreement strengthens both schemes by increasing prudence within their Technical Provisions, an injection of cash, an extended guarantee and certain warranties with respect to our sponsor, Reuters Limited," the trustees of Reuters Pension Fund and Reuters Supplementary Pension Scheme said. The agreement also included completion for each scheme’s 31 December 2016 actuarial valuation.

Technical provisions is the term for the amount of money required on an actuarial calculation to make provision for a scheme’s liabilities to pensioners.

As part of the deal, Reuters Limited transferred from Thomson Reuters to a new company, King (Cayman) Holdings.  

Separately, the new company agreed to an extension of the current agreement covering cost of living increases, the trustees said. It had been due to expire in 2021.

The announcement gave no figures for the settlement. Fuller details including a Q&A leaflet will be sent to RPF and SPS members early next week.

RPF has more than 7,200 members, nearly 2,300 of them pensioners. SPS has fewer than 200 members. ■