Alliance Boots has sought to play down the possibility that pensions negotiations could delay its £11 billion sale to a private equity-backed group, after reports that trustees are threatening legal action over pension top-up plans.

The chemist’s pension trustees want Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) to pump £1 billion into the pension scheme to compensate for the increased risk that future contributions will fail to materialise.

News of the disagreement came as the GMB trade union revealed that private equity-backed firms were behind nearly 100 insolvent pension funds, containing more than £2 billion of unfunded liabilities.

KKR is proposing to borrow £8 billion to help to fund the takeover, potentially reducing the security of future contributions. The American private equity firm has promised to pump £340 million into the fund over a number of years. The trustees are understood to have asked for just over £300 million upfront. KKR has promised a £940 million future injection, if the need arises.

The trustees’ lawyers are thought to have raised the possibility of calling a court hearing this month, in its role as the company’s largest creditor.

Boots said that it was hopeful of reaching a compromise. “We hope that both sides continue to work constructively towards a fair outcome,” it said, adding that the two sides were not “far apart”.

The GMB survey found that 96 insolvent pension schemes, including those run for Allders, the retailer, and Turner & Newall, the engineer, were for workers in schemes backed by private equity groups.

About two thirds of the companies are in the Financial Assistance Scheme, with the remainder under consideration by the Pensions Protection Fund. The GMB found that 21 of the schemes carried unfunded liabilities worth just under £2 billion. The liabilities of the remaining schemes could not be found.

Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary said: “It is clear that private equity racketeers are treating the British public with contempt. It is time that we faced the facts.”

Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP and deputy leader candidate, said: “Private equity firms making money from smash-and-grabs on UK companies cannot be allowed to do so at the taxpayer’s expense.”

In the red
£15m: Allders pension deficit
£875m: T&N pension deficit
£210m: Heath Lambert Group & Lambert Fenchurch pension deficit
£495m: MG Rover pension deficit

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