The £830m Uniq plc Pension Scheme, whose financial troubles nearly sunk its parent company, a small dairy-foods group, has sold itself to the pensions insurer Rothesay Life, bringing to an end a complicated three-year financial saga.

Uniq, a food manufacturer descended from Unigate Dairies, found itself in serious financial difficulties in 2008. This was largely due to the £1bn pension liability it inherited from Unigate, which came with only about £600m in assets.