PwC makes £200,000 an hour from Lehmans job

Experts estimate PwC will be making more than £200,000 in an hour, based on all 520 people on the Lehmans administration paid an average of £472 for 60 minutes' work

PricewaterhouseCoopers is set to charge fees at a rate of more than £200,000 an hour for the Lehmans administration, industry experts have estimated.

The firm is gearing up to meet the Lehmans' creditors committee later today to hammer out their fees for the massive job, which is expected to carry on for years.

120 people from its business recovery division are being backed up by 400 PwC staff specialising in corporate finance, banking, forensic, tax, performance improvement consulting and human resources.

PwC said recently that costs were accruing at about £4m a week, but projections taken from one of the firm's recent jobs suggest that the firm could bill double that in fees.

However, one leading IP said PwC could charge a premium on their normal rate because of the complexity of the job. 'They are more likely to ask for up to 50% of their rate or maybe double.'

The estimate is based on an administration the firm took on in October. Based on figures filed at Companies House, Accountancy Age has calculated PwC's average hourly charge to be in the region of £472 an hour for each of the 520 people working on the administration.

This is based on the maximum charge rates for partners, directors, senior managers, associates and specialists in the Companies House document.

Fees can be billed in two ways on an administration. The administrators can broker a deal for a percentage of the final dividend when money has been returned to creditors or PwC can charge for time and materials. It is expected the firm will bill for time and materials.

Source: http://www.financialdirector.co.uk