The head of GVC, the UK’s largest gaming company, has offered to take a pay cut to mollify shareholders who think he is over-compensated. After “feedback” from investors, Kenny Alexander volunteered to reduce his pay from £950,000 to £800,000—a cut of £150,000 (US$190,300).
GVC owns the bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral as well as multiple online betting brands. According to the UK Guardian, the Isle of Man-based company “suffered a stinging shareholder revolt” in 2018 when 44 percent of investors voted against pay packages that awarded its top two executives, including Alexander, deals totaling £67 million (US$85 million).
His pay for the last financial year was £19.1 million due to a “legacy award” linked to the company’s takeover of the online gaming firm bwin.party in 2015. It was a one-time payment.
In a statement about Alexander’s offer, GVC said it was made “in light of recent shareholder and proxy adviser feedback on GVC’s 2018 remuneration report and on our remuneration committee chair. This change will take effect from 1 June 2019.”
GVC bought Ladbrokes in a £3.2 billion (US$ billion) deal last year. It said the company’s remuneration committee “recognizes that the ‘single figures’ of total remuneration shown for the chairman and CEO are substantial. Our new policy framework will result in significantly lower levels of total remuneration from 2019 onwards.”
According to the Reuters news agency, more than 40 percent of shareholders are “set to revolt” against the company’s remuneration report. In 2018, even more than that—about 44 percent of shareholders— opposed GVC’s executive pay report, but the resolution still passed.
Sky News reported that GVC shares toppled in March after Alexander and Chairman Lee Feldman together sold 3 million shares of the company at a discounted price, a move seen by investors as a lack of confidence in the bookmaker. However, the top bosses said they were “fully committed” to the company with adequate support from shareholders.
Feldman, who has been chairman of GVC since 2008, is expected to leave at or before its annual general meeting in 2020, Sky News said.
