UK – Rothesay Life has bought out the defined benefit pension plan of InterContinental Hotels UK in a deal involving £440m (€520m) of liabilities.

Under the terms of the buyout agreement, the trustee of the hotel chain's corporate pension scheme insured all member benefits, including those owed to any missing beneficiaries that might emerge in the future, the UK insurer said.

The deal also included additional pension increases that had previously only been given at the discretion of the sponsor, Rothesay Life said.

It added that current market conditions meant InterContinental Hotels UK only had to make a small extra contribution on top of the assets already held in the scheme to secure the buyout.

Addy Loudiadis, chief executive at Rothesay Life, said: "This transaction is a further illustration of the momentum Rothesay Life has in the pensions de-risking market at a time when that market is showing strong signs of growth."

She said this year was becoming one of the "most productive" in terms of volume of risk transferred to insurers.

Last month, aerospace firm Cobham agreed to insure £280m of liabilities with Rothesay Life.

The InterContinental Hotels buyout gave the trustee and sponsor a clean break from the plan's liabilities, including those related to data errors, Rothesay Life said.

The policy was structured to allow the buyout to happen on an accelerated timescale.

Mercer was the adviser to the trustees, while PwC advised InterContinental Hotels UK.

Rothesay Life is currently owned by US investment bank Goldman Sachs, though the parent has said it intends to sell a majority stake in the UK insurer within the next 12 months.