Coats signs deal on Steveley pension fund deficit payments

The deal is the final part of an overall package that will see Coats make up fund deficits of £582m across its three legacy pension schemes.

The company on Monday said it had finalised a deal with the trustees of the Staveley scheme, which will see it make an upfront payment of £74m and annual contributions of £2.2m until 2028.

Under the terms of the overall deal, Coats will make £329.5m in upfront payments from group cash and annual deficit contributions totalling £17.5m, including estimated administration expenses and levies to be paid until 2028.

Coats said cash contributions in 2017, including estimated administration expenses and levies, are expected to be £290m.

This was made up of £270m in upfront payments and £20m of annual deficit contributions, including estimated administration expenses and levies.

These cash payments continue to be excluded from the group's adjusted free cash flow, Coats said

During 2013 TPR began investigations into Guinness Peat Group's (as Coats was then known) three UK pension schemes and issued warning notices against two with a third following in December 2014.