McKinsey will repay fees it earned for six months’ work last year at South African state utility Eskom if a high court finds the deal was unlawful, the global consultancy said on Tuesday.

Eskom had given McKinsey and its local partner Trillian until Tuesday to repay 1.6 billion rand ($117 million) in consultancy fees for a contract that the state firm says was illegal.

($1 = 13.6881 rand)

Reporting by Joe Brock, editing by Louise Heavens