South African retail giant Steinhoff, which is set to take over Poundland, has offered its current boss £2.7 million in shares to stay on.
Poundland chief executive Kevin O‘Byrne took over from Jim McCarthy earlier this year, leaving his role at B&Q.
Some industry analysts have suggested that if Steinhoff took over the business next month he may look for other opportunities.
Poundland stakeholders will vote on the acquisition next month, with an offer from Steinhoff now standing at £610.4 million.
Having upped its bid following intervention from “rebel” investors Elliot Management by 5p a share, Steinhoff has attempted to maintain O‘Byrne‘s role by offering him nearly four times his annual wage in shares.
RELATED: Steinhoff makes “final offer” to Poundland
The final details of the offer were released on Friday and stated that this is dependent on him remaining with the company for three years and meeting performance targets.
Should O‘Byrne choose to leave the company, he still stands to receive a significant payout. He would be granted a cash payment of 55 per cent of the share award.
He also has 600,000 shares in Poundland which he bought back in March when he was appointed.
With the newly-increased share price, these are worth £772,000, meaning he has made £154,000 in the months since his appointment.
If McCarthy, his predecessor, were to sell his shares at the newly-offered price he stands to make £22.7 million.
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