ITV launches lawsuit to claim back £40m pension from former boss Lord Allen
ITV has entered a legal row with former boss Charles Allen and three of his ex-colleagues over a £39m pension the broadcaster handed to the Labour peer.
ITV wants to free up the assets that were placed in a protected retirement plan 15 years ago when Allen was then head of Granada, which merged with Carlton Communications in 2004 to create ITV, the Sunday Times reports.
The lawsuit revolves around a pension arrangement that was put in place in 2000 to reputedly protect Allen, alongside directors Stephanie Monk, Graham Parrott and Henry Staunton, from changes that capped tax benefits for high earners.
A spokesman for Allen and his former colleagues told the Sunday Times that a “number of companies established unfunded pension arrangements for their executives” at the time. He added: “Granada obtained professional advice before putting in place these arrangements . . . the proceedings concern technical legal arguments relating to the security for their pension entitlements.”
Legal action began last year with the case to be heard later in the year.