British retailer Marks & Spencer is to put £500 million into its pension fund through a property partnership deal and will keep the scheme open to existing members, it said today.
M&S said the triennial actuarial valuation of the defined-benefit scheme showed a deficit of £704 million as at March 31st, 2006.
Under pressure from new regulations, British companies are taking steps to reduce their pension deficits, and many of them are closing costly final salary pension schemes to new members and some to existing members.
The company closed its final salary scheme to new members in 2002, a spokeswoman said.
M&S said its final-salary scheme has 123,000 members, including 26,000 current employees.
The firm said it would establish a partnership with the pension scheme, which will hold M&S properties with a current market value of about £1.1 billion.
