Cable & Wireless (C&W), the FTSE 100 telecoms group, is poised to make a landmark decision on whether to offload about £1 billion of risks associated with its pensions scheme, The Times has learnt.

It is understood that pension trustees at C&W, who walked away from a similar deal this year because of volatile markets, plan to meet next week to consider revised proposals. It is understood that Paternoster, the specialist insurer run by Mark Wood, is in the running. Rothesay Life, a Goldman Sachs vehicle, is also thought to have tabled a proposal to take on the C&W scheme, which is one of the oldest in Britain.

If the C&W trustees press ahead with a move to transfer scheme risks, it would be by far the largest deal of its kind. C&W’s pensions scheme is worth about £2 billion, with the portion under review covering more than 10,000 workers who have retired.

C&W, Paternoster and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

An ageing British population and years of volatile stock markets have increased the risks associated with running a company pension scheme. Trustees have helped to mitigate some risks by shifting some of their investments into bonds, which more effectively match their liabilities.

Declining pension deficits have also reduced the cost of selling the liabilities to a third party. It is still uncertain whether C&W will decide to transfer its scheme.

During its lifetime, C&W has been state-owned, stock-market-listed, taken private and refloated.

At present it is run by a management team led by John Pluthero, the executive chairman. C&W is also in the midst of a takeover battle to buy Thus, the Glasgow-based communications group that previously rejected a bid worth £461 million.

A pensions deal for C&W would be the second of its type for a FTSE 100 company. Lonmin, the miner, transferred its substantially smaller scheme risks to Paternoster this year.

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