Dairy Crest deal set to net boss Mark Allen £4.8 million

A Canadian takeover of Cathedral City cheese maker Dairy Crest looks likely to deliver a £4.8 million payday for boss Mark Allen.

The FTSE 250 business on Friday recommended a bid from Canadian dairy company Saputo valuing it at £975 million. Dairy Crest’s shares were up 12%, or 70p, to 625p — trading above the offer price of 620p a share.

Allen, who has been with the business for two decades, took home £2.6 million last year, compared with £1.3 million the year before, as he hit performance targets set by the board. His base salary was £560,000.

He was called a “fat cat” by leaders of the Unite union for the £1.2 million bonus he was expected to bag from selling the dairy business. Allen had 767,324 shares and options as of last March, which the bid values at £4.8 million and are likely to vest on a change of control.

Dairy Crest also makes Utterly Butterly and Clover.