Citigroup has sold the £1.5bn EMI Group Pension Fund, which it took on when it acquired EMI from Guy Hands' private equity group Terra Firma in 2011, to the specialist insurer Pension Corporation, in the largest ever deal of its type in the UK market.

The deal draws to a close Citi ownership of the UK music-publishing business, which has played host to artists such as the Beatles, the Sex Pistols and Radiohead over the years. It means 20,000 EMI pensioners will have their incomes guaranteed.