The trustee of the GKN Group pension scheme (No. 4) has completed a £513m full scheme buy-in with Just Group, insuring the benefits of 2,262 pensioners and 1,963 deferred members.

The transaction, the largest defined benefit (DB) de-risking transaction completed by Just Group, covers all deferred and pensioner members of the scheme and removes the investment longevity risk of the scheme from the business.

EY was the lead transaction adviser, the announcement additionally detailed, Mercer acted as risk transfer advisor to the trustee, and Cardano worked closely with the trustee on the asset transition.

The trustee legal advisers were Pinsent Mason and Clifford Chace were the legal advisers to Melrose.

Just Group maintained internal legal counsel and the trustee was chaired by Andrew McKinnon.

Just Group head of DB sales, Peter Jennings, commented: “The team at Just are proud to have worked with Melrose, the trustees and their advisors in securing the benefits of the GKN Group pension scheme (No. 4).

“This was a textbook example of how stakeholders should collaborate to deliver a very efficient and well executed transaction to achieve excellent outcomes for the trustees and their members.”

Independent trustee, Andrew McKinnon, added: “The trustee is pleased to have reached such a great outcome for our scheme members which was achieved through a collaborative partnership with the company (who also provided the extra funding needed to secure the transaction) and with the extensive support of ours and the company’s advisers.

“We are pleased to partner with Just on this transaction and now look forward to working closely with them to move to buyout in due course.”

GKN Aerospace, the sponsor of the scheme, is owned by Melrose Industries PLC.

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