Green family to pay £50m contribution into Arcadia pension scheme
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 03 Dec 2020
(Sharecast News) - Philip Green's family is to pay £50m into the Arcadia fashion group's pension scheme within the next 10 days, almost a year earlier than scheduled, after the company collapsed this week.
Green's wife Tina, who lives in Monaco, is the legal owner of their business vehicle, Taveta. In 2019, she committed to pay £100m into the company's pension scheme over three years. Half of that amount was due in September 2021.
Now however, the payment would be brought forwards in the next seven to 10 days. Tina Green also pledged £210m in property rights as part of the deal.
The company's total pension shortfall was estimated at approximately £350m. The scheme also has a claim over a debt owed by Topshop to the main Arcadia group.
Despite the extra cash, there are concerns that the pension scheme's funding will fall short because the pledged property assets have possibly fallen in value. The family is under pressure to help plug Arcadia's pension deficit after the scandak involving the collapse of retailer chain BHS after the Greens sold it it for £1 to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell in 2015.
The department store collapsed into administration in 2016 with a £571m pension deficit. Green eventually paid £353m to support the scheme after pressure from the Pensions Regulator and a parliamentary inquiry, which labelled Philip Green as "the unacceptable face of capitalism".
The Greens are famous for paying themselves a record £1.2bn dividend from Arcadia in 2005, as well as more than £300m in interest payments on loans and rents on properties that the family owned.
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