Toys R Us saved from collapse in £9.8m pensions deal

Struggling retailer Toys R Us has been saved from immediate collapse after a rescue deal was agreed with creditors.

Negotiations today prevented the company having to make all its 3,200 staff redundant and shut down all its stores, including in Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford and York.

But Toys R Us will still have to close 26 of its 105 UK outlets under the terms of a previously-announced restructuring plan.

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The proposed Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) had to be agreed with the state-backed Pensions Protection Fund (PPF), set up to compensate pension fund members in the event of company’s collapse.

A multi-million pound pensions deficit at Toys R Us meant the PPF got a vote on whether the CVA could go ahead under company insolvency rules.

The PPF said Toys R Us agreed to plough almost £10m into its pension plan over three years.

Malcolm Weir, the PPF’s director of restructuring and insolvency, said: “We have been working closely with Toys R Us and their advisers in the run up to the CVA vote.

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“We can confirm that an agreement has now been reached and we will now be voting in favour of the proposals at the CVA meeting today.”

“The company has agreed to pay £9.8 million into the pension plan, composed of £3.8m in 2018, with a further £6m promised over 2019 and 2020.”