Shares in troubled Dawson suspended

SHARES in luxury cashmere firm Dawson International have been suspended as it mulls administration, after failing to strike a rescue deal for its pension schemes.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Aug 2012, 10:57 BST

The Scottish company, which is 29 per cent owned by Yorkshire textiles firm Leeds Group, last month said 200 jobs are at risk after it failed to offload its pension burden into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Its pension schemes’ deficit was valued at £11.4m at the start of October – but Dawson said the PPF valued the deficit at more than £100m, and was unsatisfied with its offer of cash, a loan note and a third of the company’s equity.

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Yesterday the company said the schemes’ actuary has served notices of a “determination of contribution” on the plc and its UK subsidiary Dawson International Trading Ltd – demanding an unspecified sum from Dawson to settle the liabilities. Dawson said the sum is “significant”.

“The directors of each company will consider these notices with their advisers to determine whether these notices are valid and whether it is necessary to appoint administrators for either or both companies,” it said.

The company has been trying to secure a compromise for its ballooning pension liabilities for many years. But after its bail-out plans were rejected the firm said it “simply has no more to offer”.

Dawson added it has no plans to appoint administrators for its US business Dawson Forte Cashmere, which is “well funded and continues to trade normally”.