GKN vultures pledge £150m for pensions

PREDATORS desperate to snare GKN have pledged to pay £150m into its pension fund to help close a £700m black hole.

turnaround firm Melrose wants to buy the engineer for £7.4bn but it has been knocked back by the board and is trying to rally shareholder support.

It revealed its £150m pensions sweetener yesterday. But GKN bosses warned because it would have more debt under Melrose’s ownership, the deficit could increase and trustees may ask for money to protect the 32,000 retirement incomes in the scheme.

GKN, which makes parts for airplanes and cars, has a pensions deficit of between £400m and £2.2bn depending on calculations, with £700m the figure in its accounts.

Melrose, run by accountants christopher Miller and David Roper and chief executive Simon Peckham, a qualified solicitor, said it made the £150m pensions offer on January 8 in a letter to the board.

they have previously said: ‘Melrose has an impeccable track record of safeguarding and improving pensioners’ rights in every acquisition we have made.’

GKN paid a lump sum of £250m into its scheme in 2017, on top of a £42m annual contribution. this year the company will pay £36m.

It has clients including the US and UK militaries, Mercedes, Airbus and Boeing, employing around 58,000 worldwide including 9,000 in the UK.

GKN revealed an approach from Melrose earlier this month which was followed by a firm £7.4bn offer made on January 17, dubbed by the engineer’s bosses as opportunistic and cheap.

the Unite union has opposed the deal, while Greg clark, the Business Secretary, has met with both sides.