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Bankers, lawyers and advisers will earn nearly £150million from the takeover of Royal Mail.
The controversial £3.6billion deal, agreed with billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, would see the postal service fall into foreign ownership for the first time since it was established by King Henry VIII in 1516.
Mr Kretinsky will pay more than £89million to advisers if his bid to buy Royal Mail owners International Distribution Services group receives regulatory approval.
And IDS will fork out around £57million to consultants after the board, led by chairman Keith Williams, last month backed the takeover offer.
IDS chief executive Martin Seidenberg will rake in up to £5.6million from the sale of his stake and share awards if the move goes through.
The controversial £3.6billion deal would see the postal service fall into foreign ownership for the first time since it was established by King Henry VIII in 1516
The payment is dependent on performance and when the deal completes. The huge sums were revealed yesterday in a formal offer document sent to shareholders.
It comes amid mounting concerns about the takeover – with unions, politicians and businesses seeking cast-iron guarantees that the UK’s postal service will be protected.
Mr Kretinsky, dubbed the Czech Sphinx, yesterday agreed to ‘explore’ giving workers a stake in the business in a move that appeared to cede ground to unions.
And he reiterated promises to keep the Royal Mail name and brand while retaining its UK headquarters and tax residency to make sure it stays tied to Britain.
Among those set to cash in on the deal is former Labour frontbencher Chuka Umunna, who now works at JP Morgan.
The US investment bank is advising Mr Kretinsky alongside BNP Paribas and Citi – with bankers and brokers raking in £48million for financing arrangements and £22million for advice.
Public relations firm FGS Global is in line for a £2million payment, accountants will get £400,000 and a further £4.4million will go on other services, costs and expenses.
Mr Kretinsky’s legal advisers – American law firm Kirkland & Ellis, and mergers and acquisitions specialist Paul Weiss – are lined up to share some £12.3million.
Barclays, Bank of America Securities and Goldman Sachs will be paid a total of £36million after being hired by IDS to oversee the sale.
City law firm Slaughter and May will pocket £12.3million for providing legal services to the postal service’s parent company. IDS will pay £1.3million to PR advisers at Headland Consultancy and it has earmarked £1.8million to be spent on other services, costs and expenses.
The firm has set aside an additional ‘discretionary’ £5.5million, which it said could be split among its professional advisers.
Mr Kretinsky (pictured), dubbed the Czech Sphinx, yesterday agreed to ‘explore’ giving workers a stake in the business in a move that appeared to cede ground to unions
Mr Kretinsky reiterated promises to keep the Royal Mail name and brand while retaining its UK headquarters and tax residency to make sure it stays tied to Britain
Meanwhile, Mr Kretinsky, who co-owns West Ham United and has a major stake in Sainsbury’s, confirmed he backs the current management’s proposals to reform the postal service.
Royal Mail has been lobbying the Government and regulators for urgent reform of the Universal Service Obligation, which means it must deliver letters six-days a week nationwide for a fixed price.
It has claimed the USO in its current form is unsustainable and costs it up to £675million a year.
The plans put forward by Royal Mail include cutting second class post to three days a week, which would pave the way for up to 1,000 redundancies in a bid to save around £300million a year.
