MA16093
Barnett Waddingham LLP
Best for M&A Pension Due Diligence - UK
Barnett Waddingham Barnett Waddingham is the UK’s largest independent firm of actuaries. We spoke to Nick Griggs to find out more.
Company: Barnett Waddingham Name: Nick Griggs Email: Nick.Griggs@ barnett-waddingham.co.uk Web Address: www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk Address: Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6BW Telephone: 01242 538541
Established in 1989, Barnett Waddingham is wholly owned and managed by its partners with seven offices in the UK, and is a leading provider of actuarial, investment and consultancy services on pension issues. Nick explains how his firm’s focus on actuarial pensions work helps it to flourish in the M&A space. “In relation to corporate transactions, our firm advises exclusively on the actuarial pensions issues, rather than trying to also cover the legal, audit, covenant and non-pensions advice in a single sweep. Not only does this help to ensure the highest levels of expertise, but we believe this unbundled approach provides our clients with better flexibility to focus on the issues that are most important to their business. “A particular deal we would like to share is the advice that we provided to a major overseas multinational company on the acquisition of a FTSE100 company with significant defined benefit pension obligations in the UK (circa £2bn). As with the majority of transactional work, our due diligence needed to be produced at very short notice and delivered to both the client and their investment banks concurrently. One unusual aspect of our role was in assisting the potential purchaser to preagree its contribution requirements to the pension scheme with the trustees.”
52 Acquisition International - M&A Awards 2016
In his concluding comments Nick talks us through the industry currently, and how the firm is working to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of new developments and challenges. “Currently within the pensions space, defined benefit schemes remain a major financial burden for many companies. Even if they are now closed to future accrual these obligations will require careful management and innovative ways to reduce the risks that sponsors are exposed to through them. We continue to invest heavily in these core services to ensure our clients get cutting edge advice in this niche but important area. “This year saw us set up a new practice in the area of corporate risk management focused more generally on the risks that businesses face. We see this as a growth area for the future as we are able to combine qualitative practical risk expertise and the quantitative rigour within our team of actuaries to deliver real insights that inform decisions and change risk exposure.”