Marconi's sale of the bulk of its telecoms business last week to Ericsson for £1.2bn (€1.8bn) could trigger the sale of its pension fund operation, according to analysts. They suggest insurance companies are eager to take over the £2.6bn scheme. Prudential and Legal & General are known for entering into deals like these.
Whether they will offer enough money to make a deal worth Marconi's while is another matter. After the Ericsson deal, Marconi agreed to inject £185m into its pension fund to cover its FRS 17 pension fund deficit. And after talks with the UK regulator, Marconi is putting £490m in an escrow account â to support the scheme if or when its liabilities increase.
