Contact Energy's senior management team is set to benefit to the tune of almost $3.8 million from the announcement of the exit by its 53 per cent shareholder Origin Energy.
The ownership change triggers the rights of existing senior managers to receive Contact shares at no cost valued at almost $3.8 million, based on the $4.65 a share price used for the Origin disposal, and according to the most recent NZX filings.
A total of 775,959 performance share rights (PSRs) and 35,982 deferred share rights (DSRs) are owed to the existing senior management team, for a total value of $3.78 million based on the $4.65 strike price.
Former chief executive and departing board member David Baldwin holds 106,104 PSRs with a value of $493,384. A total of 2.9 million PSRs and DSRs are triggered by the Origin sale, affecting a raft of former senior officers of the company as well as the existing senior management team. At a price of $4.65, those shares are worth almost $13.5 million.
Contact shares are suspended while Origin lays off its shareholding to a range of New Zealand and overseas institutional and retail investors in a move designed to shore up the Australian company's balance sheet and protect its investment grade credit rating as it completes a A$25 billion ($27.9 billion) liquefied natural gas plant in Queensland.
The largest beneficiary of the PSR redemptions appears to be Contact's chief executive, Dennis Barnes, whose entitlement stood at 334,479 PSRs in filings to the NZX on December 15, giving shares issued a value of $1.55 million at $4.65 a share. The next largest entitlement is to chief financial Graham Cockcroft, with 155,154 PSRs, according to filings with the NZX on March 6, with a nominal value at $4.65 a share of $721,466.
The head of people and culture, Annika Streefland, held 93,527 PSRs and 11,783 DSRs according to filings on June 30, with a combined value at $4.65 a share of $489,692, while the head of sales, customer experience, trading and geothermal resources, James Kilty, held 86,776 PSRs at December 15, nominally valued at $403,508.