Give and take

Pension fund trustees have a nasty habit of scuppering UK mergers and acquisitions - and in particular private equity buyouts. But will it put paid to a private equity bid for J. Sainsbury? Under UK rules, the trustees have the right to demand that a bidder makes good any pension deficit. In the case of Sainsbury’s, that means the trustees could have the ultimate say on what happens to the company. On the face of it, the UK supermarket group’s pension deficit shouldn’t be too much of a problem. ...