Philip Green's Arcadia agrees deal with BHS liquidators
Philip Green’s Arcadia retail group has agreed to pay £30m to unsecured creditors of BHS after the collapse of the department store chain last year, UK media reported.
Arcadia, which owned BHS until it was sold to a consortium led by serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015, on Friday agreed the deal with BHS’s liquidators, FRP Advisory, which will drop legal action filed in the High Court against Green’s firm.
That claim partly related to a £35m floating charge held by Arcadia dated 14 April 2015.
"We can confirm that as part of the agreement, over £30m was released from reserves held in relation to Arcadia's secured claim into the monies available for BHSL's (BHS Limited's) unsecured creditors and the floating charge is to be released," an FRP spokesman said.
Green was forced into agreeing to pay £363m to rescue the BHS pension scheme which had a £571m deficit at the time of the chain's collapse.
Chappell is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to provide information for an investigation into its sale. He headed Retail Acquisitions, the company that acquired BHS.
The Pensions Regulator is prosecuting Chappell for failing to comply with three notices for information issued under section 72 of the Pensions Act 2004. Failure to provide such information without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence that can result in a fine.