P&O’s £325m pension deficit appears to be the last hurdle in the negotiations over a proposed £3bn takeover bid from DP World.
The pension fund trustees, chaired by John Crossman, a former P&O board director, are taking a tough negotiating stance over the contributions DP World would have to make to the fund. The level at which contributions are agreed affects how much DP World is willing to pay for P&O.
According to the Financial Times a source familiar with the talks has said: “They are being complicated by the fact it’s a tripartite negotiation that also involves the trustees. The buy-out value of the deficit is bigger than the accounting value, so the negotiations start at a relatively big number.”
