Payout to Maxwell pension trustees

Three-quarters of the £276m earmarked to repay pension funds raided by the late Robert Maxwell was paid in cash yesterday to pension trustees, with the rest to follow shortly in the form of dividends from Maxwell companies operating under administration.

That makes official an agreement in principle reached last month between financial institutions and pension trustees, under which all claims against Maxwell companies and intermediaries will now be dropped. Mirror Group, which groups the newspaper interests of the former Maxwell empire, has delayed announcement of its annual results in order to calculate the effects of the settlement. MGN said in February that it would be able to release £100m from reserves it had set aside to cover liabilities arising from the pension claims.