Takeover bonus for Liffe chiefs
TOP executives at futures and options market Liffe are in line to share profits of at least £16m in the takeover by Euronext, the Paris-based stock exchange.
Jean-Francois Theodore, Euronext chief executive, trumped rival bids from the London Stock Exchange and Germany's Deutsche Borse with a cash bid of £18.25 a share, valuing Liffe at £555m.
Three top directors of Liffe - chairman Sir Brian Williamson, chief executive Hugh Freedberg and John Foyle, deputy chief executive - will share £16m option gains.
Sir Brian has options over 600,000 shares at 600p, worth £7.35m at the bid price. Freedberg has options worth £6.125m and Foyle could gain £2.45m. Fifty of Liffe's most senior executives are entitled to a total 2.64m options under the scheme, representing a gain of £32.34m. Under a separate incentive plan, 37 executives have more than 366,000 shares worth nearly £6.68m.
Williamson's decision to go with Euronext is a bitter blow to Stock Exchange chief executive Clara Furse. She offered £19 a share in cash and shares for Liffe. Her bid floundered when it became clear that she wanted Williamson and his team to play second fiddle to LSE's own management.
Euronext pledged to keep Williamson and Freedberg in their jobs. Williamson will be offered a place on the main board of the Continental market.
The deal has already won acceptances from 51% of shareholders and needs to secure 75%. Michael Brown at US investor Battery Ventures, a 20% shareholder in Liffe, said: 'There is no material risk of this deal not going through.'
He added: 'I don't view the payouts to Liffe executives as an issue. The organisation was on death's door and they resurrected it. They have earned every pound.'
