Arcadia, which owned BHS until it was sold to Dominic Chappell-led consortium, reaches deal with store’s liquidators
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire has agreed to pay £30m to unsecured creditors of BHS following the collapse of the department store chain with the loss of 11,000 jobs.
Arcadia, which owned BHS until it was sold to a consortium led by Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015, on Friday agreed the deal with BHS’s liquidators, FRP Advisory, which will drop legal action filed against Green’s company.
A spokesman for FRP said: “The liquidators of SHB Realisations, formerly BHS, reached an agreement with Arcadia Group in relation to a number of matters, including Arcadia’s floating charge 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 BHS unsecured creditors and the floating charge is to be released.”
The settlement avoids the prospect of the retail billionaire fighting a lengthy legal battle over the demise of BHS.
Green avoided another legal battle with the pension regulator by agreeing to pay £363m to rescue the BHS pension scheme.
Chappell is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to provide information for an investigation into its sale.
Chappell headed Retail Acquisitions, the company that acquired BHS. A year later, it collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs and a pension deficit of £571m.
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.
Green, who was pictured on Instagram spraying bottles of champagne among women in bikinis, also on Friday announced a deal to buy four franchise-run Topshop stores in Australia which collapsed into administration in May.
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