Heineken in 2.4 billion pound longevity swap deal with Aviva

LONDON Brewer Heineken said on Monday it had agreed a deal to transfer 2.4 billion pounds ($3.71 billion) in longevity risk to Friends Life, now part of insurer Aviva.

The deal covers around 19,000 pensioners in the defined benefit, or final salary, pension scheme of the Scottish & Newcastle Pension Plan, a statement said on Monday.

“By hedging against longevity, we have reduced a significant amount of the Plan’s risk should the overall life expectancy of members exceed our projections,” said Neil Parfrey, UK head of pensions at Heineken.

($1 = 0.6469 pounds)

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Carolyn Cohn)