Laundry top brass clean up in takeover

SEnIoR bosses at laundry services firm Berendsen have made millions of pounds following the firm’s takeover.

Chief executive James drummond, 55, has been handed £3.7m and finance chief Kevin Quinn £2.9m in exchange for shares they held before the deal.

French rival Elis is paying £2.2bn for Berendsen in a deal clinched in June following earlier rejected offers.

Company secretary david lawler, 53, has been handed £2.3m and hospitality managing director niels Peter Hansen £1.3m.

Healthcare managing director Christophe martin was given £1.4m and workwear managing director Suketu devani £1.3m.

Shares in Berendsen have climbed since Elis’s interest, from lows of around 865p towards the end of last year to above 1200p last week.

Bosses at first rejected Elis’s interest, saying it did not take into account progress since then and significantly undervalued the company. But they were persuaded after Elis upped its offer to 1250p per share.

In July Berendsen said first-half profits had fallen 5.6pc as challenging conditions squeezed its markets, with operating margins shrinking.