JOHN KING, the 54-year-old executive chairman of Warner Chilcott, is in line for £120 million if the Northern Ireland drugmaker formerly known as Galen is swallowed up in a £1.5 billion deal.
Geoffrey Elliott, his 51-year-old finance director, would also scoop £44 million if a consortium of US private equity firms succeeds in its bid to take Warner Chilcott private.
Dr King, a former lecturer who joined Galen in 1979 as a technical manager, and Mr Elliott, who joined Galen in 1993, are expected to stay on as non-executive directors if the bid is successful.
The two men are among Northern Ireland’s richest businessmen, thanks to a resurgence in the share price of their Craigavon pharmaceutical company last year.
The Sunday Times Rich List estimated that Dr King, who successfully led Galen’s 1997 flotation, was the UK’s 267th richest man last year, courtesy of his 7.7 per cent stake in Warner Chilcott and previous share sales and salaries worth about £50 million.
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Dr King’s strategy has been instrumental in transforming Galen from a UK products and services company into a US-focused marketing outfit.
He once shared an office with Galen’s founder, Allen McClay, who has been buying the UK parts of Warner Chilcott as Dr King expands into the US.
Dr McClay has also done well from the sale of his interest in Galen. The 71-year-old, who sold most of his residual stake in the company earlier this year, is estimated to be worth £275 million.
Last year Galen was seventh on the Sunday Times list of companies or brands with the most Rich List millionaires, behind Tetra Laval, the Beatles, Carphone Warehouse, Manchester United, Goldman Sachs and the Rolling Stones.
Dr King, who gained a PhD in 1974, went on to lecture at the pharmacy department of Queen’s University in Belfast, before leaving to join Galen.
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He was appointed managing director of the drugmaker in 1984, chief executive in 1991 and executive chairman in 2000.