ITV in countdown to legal scrap over pension plans for Charles Allen execs

ITV is preparing for a legal battle to take back almost £40m from a pension scheme for former chief executive Lord Charles Allen and three of his former colleagues.

The broadcaster is seeking to free up assets that were placed in a ring-fenced retirement plan 15 years ago, when Lord Allen was head of Granada, which later became ITV.

The TV company revealed in its annual results earlier this month that a charging deed was executed on the unfunded pension commitments of four former Granada executives during 2014, and added that “legal action has commenced to try and remove the charge”.

According to reports, a case could be heard as early as May.

ITV, which last week announced that it was bringing Big Brother creator John de Mol on board in a £780m deal, declined to comment yesterday.