Marconi chief's £15.4m shares
MARCONI is selling its North American Access business for $240m (£135m) to Advanced Fibre Communications, triggering another bonanza share payout for the architect of its recovery, chief executive Mike Parton.
He now stands to pick up free shares currently worth £15.4m - 70% of the total options package he is entitled to under Marconi's rescue plan.
Today's deal will enable the company to pay off all its remaining junior loan notes, triggering the third stage in the option scheme and also bringing into effect the fourth trigger of a market capitalisation of more than £1bn.
The fifth and final trigger of a market value of £1.5bn would take Parton's share package above £20m. He will not collect any of the shares until May and final payouts are not due until 2006.
Parton said: 'This means that Marconi is meeting all the performance targets which were set for it and that is good news for everyone, not just those in the share option scheme.'
Another 50 senior managers at Marconi are on similar but smaller share options schemes while a further 250 executives are entitled to buy shares at a price of 290p against today's 628p.
The deal to sell the business, which supplies equipment to all the US main telephone companies for completing the 'final mile' linking homes and businesses to broadband internet services, was foreshadowed almost a year ago.
