The Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) has significantly boosted its employee benefits business with the acquisition of HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited (HACL) for £27.25 million in cash.

The combination of JLT UK Employee Benefits and HACL has been described as a "complementary deal" by the JLT group's chief executive, Dominic Burke, which will allow JLT to become a formidable player in both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) scheme advice and wider employee benefits services.

"This acquisition brings together two market leading employee benefit consultancies which have great synergy in both culture and client offerings," said Duncan Howorth, CEO, JLT UK Employee Benefits.

"I look forward to welcoming our new colleagues from HACL to a group in which Employee Benefits is right at the centre of our strategic ambitions," he added.

HACL, which employs 440 employees, has six main areas of expertise: Trustee Consultancy; Corporate Consultancy; Administration Services; Defined Contribution Consultancy; Investment Consultancy and Health and Risk Consultancy. In the year ended 31 December 2008, HACL revenues were about the £40 million mark.

JLT's existing Employee Benefits business employs approximately 1000 staff and generated revenues of £87.6 million and an operating profit of £14.9 million in 2008.

Richard Reid, CEO of HACL, said: "We are focused on ensuring that our customers continue to benefit from high quality service and financial solutions. The JLT Group is a market leader in the provision of pension solutions and wider employee benefits and we are now working together to ensure that all of our existing customers benefit seamlessly from our combined expertise.

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