Esat chairman Mr Denis O'Brien got a $2.5 million (£1.9 million) "tip" yesterday - his reward for selling the telecommunications group for more than $1.1 billion. He will be able to add the gratuity to the $250 million (£221 million) he received for his shareholding in Esat which was sold to British Telecom earlier this month.
Mr O'Brien will also receive a further $10 million, because of share options he was granted. The monies come courtesy of the Esat board, which along with other shareholders ratified resolutions to bring the moves into effect at an extraordinary general meeting (e.g.m) in Dublin yesterday.
Mr O'Brien, who successfully fought off a hostile bid for his company by Telenor, the Norwegian state telecoms group, was not present at yesterday's meeting. At any rate, he absented himself from voting - as did his father, Denis Snr because of conflict of interest.
Mr O'Brien found a "white knight" in the form of British Telecom earlier this month, which was persuaded to pay $100 a share for Esat, trumping the $85 per share which Telenor had offered. The company was sold for $2.5 billion, well above the $1.1 billion target set by the Esat board.
The options were granted at £19.38 per ordinary share (one American Depository Share is equal to two ordinary shares) and Mr O'Brien's net gain is £7.45 million ($9.68 million). Esat said the shares had been granted on November 10th 1999 "after a protracted period of discussion" which had begun in January 1999.
The board said that as chairman and chief executive officer of Esat he held no other options in the company "and the purpose was to help retain his services and to compensate him for the dilution suffered as a result of his being the only executive ... who had not previously received options."
The e.g.m. was called after Telenor raised the bonus and options issue with the Irish Take-over Panel, claiming it amounted to a "frustrating action." Esat rejected this but said that following discussions with the Take-over Panel it would convene the e.g.m. to approve the package.
The meeting was chaired by Mr Padraig O hUiginn, who also held proxies on behalf of various shareholders. One proxy shareholder, believed to be a US financial institution, voted against the granting of the $2.5 million, but for the other motions.
