Arcadia pension deal nears completion
Sources told Sky that a formal agreement could be ‘likely within weeks’, with Aviva reportedly fending off competition from rival insurance companies
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Trustees of the Arcadia Group pension scheme may be close to securing a funding deal backed by one of the UK”s biggest insurers, Aviva, Sky News has reported.
A binding deal would guarantee their incomes following the collapse of the group, which owned brands such as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins and fell into administration in 2020.
Sources told Sky that a formal agreement could be “likely within weeks”, with Aviva reportedly fending off competition from rival insurance companies, including Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).
Prior to Arcadia’s collapse, Sir Philip Green was in negotiations with The Pensions Regulator and agreed to inject a substantial sum into the scheme.
Last year, it was then reported that trustees were in “detailed” talks with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) about a deal to insure its retirement scheme payments for around £1bn of liabilities.
Arcadia workers who were saving pensions had previously been told that their savings could be recovered following the sale of property assets at the collapsed company.
According to The Guardian in reports from 2021, trustees of the Arcadia pension scheme secured £173m to help fund their retirement through the selling of assets since the group failed – with the proceeds understood to be from Asos’s purchase of Topshop and other property offloads.
Arcadia fell into administration in November 2020, placing over 12,000 jobs at risk. Since its collapse the majority of its brands have been sold to other retail chains – the most widely reported being; Boohoo’s £25.2m purchase of Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis – and Asos’s £300m deal on Topshop Topman and Miss Selfridge.
At the time, reports suggested the Arcadia pension scheme was given security over £210m of assets, including the sale of Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford street.
The pension holders were expected to earn more from the scheme, however it was said that the amount raised would not be enough to cover an expected £300m deficit.
Aviva has been contacted for further comment.
