Boots pension fund deal agreed
19 June, 2007
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the private equity firm buying Alliance Boots, has reached an agreement with the group's pension fund trustees. Under the agreement, KKR will pay £418m over 10 years to meet a shortfall in the scheme, and also put aside a further £600m as a potential safety net.
The Alliance Boots pension has 66,000 members, including 16,000 employees who are currently paying contributions.
The deal comes just a day after the European Commission cleared KKR's £11.1bn takeover of Alliance Boots.
The takeover of Alliance Boots is expected to be completed next month (July) and be the first time a FTSE 100 company has been de-listed and taken into private ownership.
Chairman of the pension fund trustees, John Watson, said: "We are pleased to have reached a satisfactory agreement on the future funding and security of the Boots Pension Scheme.
"All of our members will benefit from the agreement and I am delighted that this period of uncertainty has come to an end with this positive result.
"Thanks to the efforts of all parties working through the complex issues, we now have a common basis of understanding of the funding principles and actuarial assumptions underlying the scheme.
"We have reached a fair agreement that provides significant security and future certainty to our members."
By Editorial Staff.
