DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5

Premier Foods Says CEO Darby Will Get At Least £1m Exit Deal

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Premier Foods Says CEO Darby Will Get At Least £1m Exit Deal

Oxo-cube maker Premier Foods said its former chief executive will get at least £1 million (€1.14 million) in an exit deal after he stepped down following a shareholder revolt.

Takeover Approach

Gavin Darby, who led the Mr Kipling cake company from 2013 to the end of January this year, drew investor flak for failing to revive the business after rebuffing a takeover approach from US food maker McCormick & Co Inc.

The company's shares have lost nearly a third of their value since McCormick abandoned its approach in April 2016.

Almost 41% of Premier shareholders in July backed an attempt led by activist hedge fund Oasis Management to oust Darby.

In November, Darby agreed to step down, but said it had nothing to do with the shareholder revolt.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Exit Deal

Darby will be paid £863,557 for his 12-month notice period, covering his salary, contractual benefits, and pension supplement, the company said.

Darby will also be given £30,000 for advisory services and legal fees.

In addition, he will get 638,291 shares, worth about £238,401, based on Thursday's (7 February 2019) close of 37.35 pence.

Legal Obligations

The company said it was meeting its legal obligations under the terms of Gavin's contract, but declined to comment further.

ADVERTISEMENT

Oasis Management was not immediately available for comment.

In January of this year, the company named Finance Chief Alastair Murray as acting chief executive officer.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.