My worry is, if they really intended to pay it back, why write it off in the first place? They could have kept the debt there, paid it off and all would be well (as far as I can tell with my limited at best knowledge of finances). Instead they've written it off, so when they pay it back there's a possibility that they get it back again when they sell. Doesn't sound right to me and no, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's what's happened.
The question then becomes what did KLD pay for 41%? Did he pay based on £37m (which the value would be, roughly, if the parachute money was paid back) or on £12m (the value if, ultimately, it wasn't). If the former then I'd imagine he'd be pretty pissed off. But again that's for cleverer lads to understand, I don't know if it makes any sense at all!