https://www.ft.com/content/4a9eea46...egmentId=786c7e0e-fcc5-282a-7c0e-74ecfe4825a7
"Will they never learn? After the uproar over the collapse of their former BHS retail chain — which left staff and creditors worrying for their financial future — Philip and Tina Green are now trying to convince stakeholders there will be less of a pension hole and plenty of equity value in their struggling Arcadia group.
Almost 200 of their 500 Topshop-to-Burton stores cannot afford the rent, and the pension fund is short of at least £300m.
But, having paid themselves more than £1bn in dividends, Sir Philip and Lady Green still expect everyone who’s owed money to approve a deal letting their company off with lower bills."
"...Back then, TPR [The pensions Regulator] had to settle for a lower BHS pension contribution than it wanted. This time, it appears to be warning that even matching Arcadia’s £50m annual deficit payments will not be good enough.
Despite the Greens’ personal guarantee, and an extra £25m sweetener, TPR says: “We do not consider the proposals are sufficient to ensure that members of the scheme are adequately protected.”
That suggests it now wants significantly more pension money over a shorter period of time — or has come to doubt the word of a man the Daily Mail calls “Sir Shifty”.
With TPR able to influence the way the Pension Protection Fund votes on Arcadia’s CVA plan, and those PPF votes vital to winning the necessary 75 per cent support, it seems the regulator is no longer being bullied in the schoolyard."
The one on the right.
"Will they never learn? After the uproar over the collapse of their former BHS retail chain — which left staff and creditors worrying for their financial future — Philip and Tina Green are now trying to convince stakeholders there will be less of a pension hole and plenty of equity value in their struggling Arcadia group.
Almost 200 of their 500 Topshop-to-Burton stores cannot afford the rent, and the pension fund is short of at least £300m.
But, having paid themselves more than £1bn in dividends, Sir Philip and Lady Green still expect everyone who’s owed money to approve a deal letting their company off with lower bills."
"...Back then, TPR [The pensions Regulator] had to settle for a lower BHS pension contribution than it wanted. This time, it appears to be warning that even matching Arcadia’s £50m annual deficit payments will not be good enough.
Despite the Greens’ personal guarantee, and an extra £25m sweetener, TPR says: “We do not consider the proposals are sufficient to ensure that members of the scheme are adequately protected.”
That suggests it now wants significantly more pension money over a shorter period of time — or has come to doubt the word of a man the Daily Mail calls “Sir Shifty”.
With TPR able to influence the way the Pension Protection Fund votes on Arcadia’s CVA plan, and those PPF votes vital to winning the necessary 75 per cent support, it seems the regulator is no longer being bullied in the schoolyard."
The one on the right.
