MECOM has ditched a generous bonus plan that would have handed David Montgomery, the former Mirror Group boss, and other executives one fifth of operating profits ahead of today’s relisting.
The London relisting, which gives the newspaper group a market capitalisation of £365.5 million, comes while it is in the process of completing the acquisition of Orkla Media, the Norwegian owner of newspapers in six European countries.
As executive chairman of the enlarged group, Mr Montgomery’s salary is £350,000. Mecom’s remuneration and nominations committee is investigating a new bonus plan. It has decided to drop the present plan, which provides for a bonus pool comprising 20 per cent of annual operating profit. It is not known until what date the executives receive bonuses under the old scheme. Mr Montgomery also has a company car and access to a company chauffeur, as well as other benefits.
The largest shareholder in the enlarged group will be Orkla Group, with a stake of almost 20 per cent. Mr Montgomery’s personal stake has fallen from 2.26 per cent to 0.76 per cent.
Mr Montgomery has a string of high-profile institutional investors in Mecom. Other big shareholders include M&G, Lansdowne Partners and Fidelity, all with stakes of about 9 per cent.