Aviva in pension buy-in deal for print firm

LONDON (Reuters) - The pension scheme for British newspaper printer West Ferry said on Wednesday it has entered into a deal with Aviva's (AV.L) Norwich Union to guarantee 130 million pounds in pensioner payments.

The transaction is the latest in a series of 'pensioner buy-in' deals between pension schemes and insurance companies.

West Ferry is a national printing company which has the Express Newspaper, the Financial Times and Sport Newspapers among its clients.

Under the deal the West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme holds the insurance contract as an investment while the individual members' benefits remain unchanged and the 1,300 pensioners affected will remain members of the scheme.

John Pannett, chairman of trustees, said: "The trustees were keen to improve the security of members' benefits whilst taking advantage of current competitive pricing in the buyout market, and the company was fully supportive of the process."

Consultants Lane, Clark & Peacock, which was the lead adviser to the trustees, said the deal brings the number of buy-out deals this year to nearly 7 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Raji Menon; Editing by Greg Mahlich)