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PartyGaming executives hit the jackpot The Guardian (UK)
PartyGaming executives hit the jackpotImproved remuneration package worth £40m, rewards are not linked to performance.December 29th, 2006 PartyGaming's senior management will share a cash and shares jackpot of more than £40m in the next three years under a new remuneration policy unveiled yesterday. The move is likely to infuriate institutional shareholders as the awards have no link with the performance of the online gaming business. Under the new scheme, chief executive Mitch Garber will pocket almost £19m - including free shares worth £2.2m he received this year - merely for staying until 2009. Group finance director Martin Weigold will receive £5.64m if he remains until the end of 2008. A further 50m shares - worth £15.875m at yesterday's closing price - will be shared among other key employees. Unwrapping details of its new remuneration policy on the last trading day of the year, PartyGaming said the change was necessary to retain key staff following the collapse in the company's share price. All London-listed online gaming businesses have closed down their US operations after the Safe Ports Act, the anti-online gambling legislation, was passed in October. After listing at 116p a year and a half ago and hitting a high of 155p, PartyGaming's shares crashed after the ban, pushing the company out of the FTSE 100 index. Shares ended the year closing at 31.75p, yesterday. "This [remuneration plan] has been brought about by some exceptional circumstances," explained a spokesman for PartyGaming. "Is there a direct comparison with this? Probably not. But if you look at the collapse of some dot.com companies you'll see many people had to recalibrate reward schemes or lose staff." "We have had queries from quite a few shareholders about what we are going to do to retain key personnel in the wake of the signing of the Safe Ports Act," he added. Institutional shareholders, however, have not been consulted about implementing the new scheme. PartyGaming stressed yesterday that all but £2m worth of the new remuneration scheme is funded by the original founders of the business. When the business floated they placed 200m shares into an employee benefit trust and yesterday topped that up with a further 40m. It is these shares that will be handed out - for no consideration - to key staff. Mr Garber, however, will also get a guaranteed £2m cash bonus next year if he is still working for PartyGaming at the beginning of December. A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers, an investor body whose members represent a fifth of the stock market, said it would study the new plan."We believe pay needs to reflect performance. We are not against competitive pay but at the same time reward success, don't reward failure," he said. Meanwhile PartyGaming yesterday bought out the internet gambling operations of two smaller rivals, Empire Online - owner of NoblePoker.com and Clubdicecasino.com - plus Intercontinental Online Gaming, the owner of MagicBoxCasino.com, paying in total $66.3m (£33.85m) in shares. PartyGaming estimates the sites will generate profits of more than $8.5m next year. Empire Online, which was created by Israeli entrepreneur Noam Lanir, will use $40m proceeds from the sale to add to its $250m cash pile which it plans to use for investing in various shares and derivatives and real estate.  Other news to read :
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