The buyout market for UK defined benefit pension schemes is finally taking off, with the value of assets transferred more than doubling to £1.9bn (€2.6bn) and the value of potential new deals rising to more than £40bn in the final three months last year.

A spate of large buyout deals at UK companies including ferry group P&O, oil exploration group Lasmo and engineering firm Weir Group helped drive a dramatic increase in the value of new business placed in the final quarter last year, according to new research published today by Aon Consulting, the pensions, benefits and human resources consulting group.