Linklaters, Eversheds and Stephenson Harwood advise on £363m BHS pensions settlement
Sir Philip Green agrees deal with Pensions Regulator following retail giant's collapse
March 01, 2017 at 06:22 AM
2 minute read
Linklaters, Eversheds and Stephenson Harwood have advised on Sir Philip Green's £363m settlement with the Pensions Regulator following the collapse of retailer BHS, which filed for administration in April last year.
Green has agreed to provide funding for a new pension scheme to give the 19,000 members of the existing BHS pension schemes the option of the same starting pension that was promised by BHS, and higher benefits than they would have received from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
The settlement closes the Pension Regulator's enforcement action against Green, which came after a parliamentary inquiry into the failure of BHS by the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. The retailer's collapse left a £571m black hole in its pension scheme.
Linklaters is a longstanding adviser to Green and his Arcadia Group, and has acted for Green throughout the parliamentary inquiry and subsequent regulatory enforcement action, with disputes partner Andrew Hughes taking the lead role.
Linklaters corporate partner Owen Clay acted on the 2015 disposal of BHS to Retail Acquisitions Limited for £1, and was himself questioned by MPs over Linklaters' role in the deal and the subsequent collapse of BHS.
Eversheds advised the trustees of the BHS pension scheme on the settlement, fielding a team led by pensions partner Emma King alongside pensions partner Mark Latimour, while Stephenson Harwood took the lead role for the PPF, with a team led by restructuring partner Libby Elliott and employment and pensions head Mark Catchpole.
The chief executive of the Pensions Reglator, Lesley Titcomb, said: "The agreement we have reached with Sir Philip Green represents a strong outcome for the members of the BHS pension schemes. It takes account of the interests of both pensioners and the PPF, and brings a welcome level of certainty to present and future pensioners."
Last June, Linklaters confirmed in a letter to the chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee that it had received £1.2m in fees up to that point for its work advising Arcadia on the sale of BHS and the subsequent fallout surrounding its collapse.
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