PwC paid £6.6m from MG Rover collapse

PricewaterhouseCoopers has earned £6.6m as administrators of collapsed car maker MG Rover and engine manufacturer Powertrain in the six months to 7 October, a creditor's report has revealed.

This takes the total figure earned by the five firms engaged to advise the former Longbridge plant and its main supplier to a staggering £8m.

The sale of the car manufacturer assets and its engine-making sister company Powertrain raised a total of £53m when they were sold to Nanjing Automobile in July – more than double the original estimates.

However, Powertrain actually sold for more than MG Rover. The former car maker was sold for for £23m, compared with the estimated £17.8m, while Powertrain's value far exceeded its directors' expectations of £5.7m and was sold for £30m.

The report revealed that PwC had been paid £5.616m from its work on MG Rover since it went into administration on 10 June and £1.028m from Powertrain.

'Our fees are approved and agreed by the creditors committee and it was an extremely large and complex administration which has involved a great deal of work', a PwC spokeswoman said.

The next report to creditors is set to be at the conclusion of the administration, or in approximately six months, the report added.

Last week Accountancy Age revealed under the Freedom of Information Act that the five firms – including PwC – engaged to advise on aspects of MG Rover’s collapse and sale had already earned at least £5m.

Each of the Big Four were involved in advising various parties, and mid-tier firm BDO Stoy Hayward worked for the DTI as the official investigator.

The DTI said that Gervase MacGregor, the BDO partner working as the investigator and his firm had earned £1,090,890 in fees, disbursements and VAT between the 31 May and 31 August – more than £10,000 a day.

The DTI also disclosed KPMG’s fees in relation to the carmaker. The firm was paid £340,325 for its work.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said in June that it had earned £4m as administrators for Rover.

Ernst & Young advised Shanghai Automotive, and has not disclosed how much it was paid for the work.

Deloitte, MG Rover’s former auditors, is facing investigation by disciplinary body the AIDB over its audit work on Rover. It earned an annual audit fee of about £300,000.