Rothesay Life, the pensions insurer owned by Goldman Sachs, has acquired the £440 million UK pension fund of hotels group InterContinental Hotels, taking advantage of a "window of opportunity" that has opened this summer to get deals away.

The UK-based hotels giant, which is one of the world's largest operators with 4,600 hotels in nearly 100 countries, and the trustees on its pensions board swung into action as the gilt market moved in June, following the US Federal Reserve's announcement in May that it might begin withdrawing, or "tapering", its programme of quantitative easing.