UK trade union Unite is calling for pension funds to stop giving new money to Pemberton Asset Management.  

The London-based private markets specialist has ultimate control over food manufacturer, Oscar Mayer, where almost 600 workers are on strike.

The issue has already been raised at some local authority pension committee meetings. It will be discussed at Clwyd Pension Fund – the region where the dispute is taking place – on 27 November.

Clwyd and six other Welsh pension funds invest in Pemberton via the Wales Pensions Partnership’s (WPP) private credit strategy. The fund for Swansea has independently committed £50m to Pemberton’s working capital finance strategy.

“We hope there will be support for taking an ethical stance against Pemberton,” said councillor Anthony Wedlake, a member of the Clywd Pension Fund committee, whose ward is within walking distance from the dispute at the Oscar Mayer food factory in Wrexham.

“There are lots of organisations between Oscar Mayer and Pemberton but they are the most significant party. My view is that WPP should stop allocating to funds where Pemberton is a manager. I am not calling for divestment,” he said.

Pemberton was for years a lender to Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) when it owned Oscar Mayer. New management at the chilled foods manufacturer, which supplies several UK supermarkets, came in last year after Pemberton took control of the company from DBAG in a debt-for-equity swap.

Like a lot of the UK food industry, Oscar Mayer has been struggling for years. Accounts for the OM UK Holdco Group to the end of 2023 noted that “the shareholders [Pemberton], who also provide the senior debt to the group, are supportive of the business […] however, such support is not committed and consequently, there is a material uncertainty that may cast doubt on the group and company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. 

Pemberton, which is 40% owned by Legal & General, has put more cash into the food business and agreed that a portion of future cash interest payments will be converted into payments-in-kind. One major contract, however, has been lost. Another factory in Wales was downsized last year. Consultation at Wrexham this year to ‘fire and rehire’ staff on lower conditions triggered the strike.

It is legal in the UK to ‘fire and rehire’ although the UK government is currently consulting on how to reform the practice.

A spokesperson for Pemberton said that since 2023, the manager had injected much-needed capital into Oscar Mayer and actively supported the management in taking the necessary actions to help navigate several challenges and ensure a viable future for the company.

“Pemberton remains convinced that those actions will help stabilise the business and secure job opportunities locally,” he said.

Unite is targeting all pension funds that use Pemberton, including private-sector schemes and those abroad; not just those with a definite link to Oscar Mayer. Local authority funds with considerable capital invested with Pemberton include Lewisham, Barnet and Tyne & Wear.

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