Sir Philip Green said to explore scheme to buy out 16,000 BHS pension plan members

London - Sir Philip Green is said to be prepared to buy out as many as 16,000 pensions plans out of the 20,000 BHS members struck by the 571 million pound deficit as part of his pledge to fix the scheme.

Last week saw the billionaire entrepreneur vow that he would fix the pension deficit scheme of collasped retail group BHS during a parliamentray inquiry probing into the demise of the clothing and homeware retailer. Green said he would work with the pension regulator to come up with a plan, and part of the solution currently in the works would see Green and advisors buy out members of the pension pna with small pensions via a cash lump sum, reported The Daily Mail.

The number of members who may be offered a buy-out option are said to fall between 15,000 and 16,000, as the majority of the those under the scheme are said to have worked at BHS for a relatively short period of time, accruing a modest pension. Members who accept the buy-out would be given a one-off payout of a few thousands pounds, which would cost Green a total of between 100 million pounds and 200 million pounds.

The scheme would drastically shrink the scheme's liabilities and save it from being taken over by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). However, the one-off payouts may be less valuable than holding onto pension rights in the long term, as the PPF has a cap of 32,000 pounds as the maximum ot pays out to any pension scheme member.