PIC invests £65 million in Livin Housing Association

London, 1 April 2019 – Pension Insurance Corporation plc (“PIC”), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has invested £65 million in Livin Housing Limited, a housing association based in County Durham. The funds will be used to develop affordable homes, as well as refinance existing debt to reduce interest costs for the borrower. Centrus acted as sole financial advisor to Livin, as well as acting as arranger and advisor for the private placement.

Livin manages around 8,400 homes across County Durham. It was formed in 2009 when Sedgefield Borough Council transferred council housing to the housing association via a Large-Scale Voluntary Transfer.

Key points of the transaction:

• £65 million size spot funding, split across three tranches maturing in 2055, 2057 and 2058 respectively
• Maturity profile has been tailored to match PIC’s pension liabilities in years where it is difficult to source cashflows in the public bond markets
• Stable, secure, long-term cashflows, which are a good match for PIC’s pension liabilities

To date, PIC has invested a total of almost £1.5 billion directly into social housing and it continues to be an important sector for PIC to invest in.

Sean Brodie, Executive Director of Finance and Development at Livin Housing, said: “We are delighted to have achieved such a positive outcome. The Board have established a clear vision for the future of our business and the new funding arrangements provide an excellent platform from which we can invest further in providing great homes and sustaining strong communities. 

“We are grateful to Centrus, for their invaluable support throughout the process, and to Lloyds, AIB and PIC, for their continued commitment to the sector and for helping us to achieve our social aims.”

Marno Jooste, Debt Origination Manager at Pension Insurance Corporation, said: “We are very pleased to have worked with Livin and Centrus on this transaction. We have been able to agree on a funding agreement which meets the needs of both parties, allowing the development of social housing while backing the payment of our policyholders’ pensions on a secured basis.”

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Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact:

Pension Insurance Corporation

Jeremy Apfel
+44 (0)20 7105 2140
apfel@pensioncorporation.com

Teneo Blue Rubicon

Anthony Silverman
+44 (0)20 3757 9231
Anthony.Silverman@teneostrategy.com

About Pension Insurance Corporation
The purpose of Pension Insurance Corporation plc (“PIC”) is to pay the pensions of its current and future policyholders. PIC provides secure and stable retirement incomes through leading customer service, comprehensive risk management and excellence in asset and liability management. At year-end 2018, PIC had insured 192,100 pension scheme members and had £31.4 billion in financial investments, accumulated through the provision of tailored pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins to the trustees and sponsors of U.K. defined benefit pension schemes. Clients include FTSE 100 companies, multinationals and the public sector. PIC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN 454345). For further information please visit www.pensioncorporation.com

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