Asda’s Mohsin Issa could offer the supermarket’s new chief executive a pay package worth up to £10m as the billionaire races to find someone to lead the business.
In a bid to wrap up the search for a new boss, a lucrative package ranging from £8m to £10m has been proposed, city sources told the Telegraph.
Since 2021, Issa, the minority owner of the grocery chain, has been overseeing the business following Roger Burnley’s early departure due to a strategic disagreement. While prior attempts to appoint a new leader were unsuccessful in 2022.
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Headhunters at Spencer Stuart are currently overseeing the recruitment process but it is understood that no candidate has yet been identified.
While no firm pay deal has been settled, a £10m package would make the next Asda chief the joint-highest paid supermarket boss in Britain.
Although one senior industry executive told the Telegraph that the lucrative package was still “not enough” to take on the job.
Issa’s involvement is thought to be an obstacle given the lack of clarity around his involvement in the running of the business after a chief executive is hired, due to his hands-on management style.
Currently, Tesco boss Ken Murphy is the highest-paid boss, who will receive a £10m payout this year, an unprecedented sum for any supermarket boss.
Last week, Asda said it was “undertaking an extensive international executive search to find a permanent CEO”.
The retailer said it was a “priority” for the board but stressed it was taking “a deliberate and thoughtful approach to hire the best possible candidate”.
Asda’s hunt for a new boss coincides amid a period of significant change in the business, following private equity firm TDR Capital’s acquisition of majority control last Friday.
The deal, which will complete later this year, brings the ownership of Asda to 67.5% by TDR Capital, 22.5% by Mohsin Issa, and 10% by Walmart.
Mohsin’s brother Zuber Issa will also step down as co-chief executive of EG Group after reaching an agreement to acquire its remaining UK forecourt business and certain standalone food service locations for £228m.
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