Marconi men share £8.7m windfall

MARCONI chief executive Mike Parton has cashed in nearly £5m of stock options in his first big payday since guiding the former FTSE 100 star through a life-saving financial restructuring.

Parton, chairman John Devaney and chief operating officer Mike Donovan are sharing a £8.7m windfall for hitting two incentive milestones set by creditors who bailed out the group last year.

The payouts, which will also see up to 50 senior managers pocket an average £100,000 bonus, are certain to infuriate the scores of investors who lost a fortune in Marconi's dramatic fall from grace.

From a peak valuation of £13bn, an ill-guided acquisition spree under former chief Lord Simpson as the tech boom ran out of steam pushed Marconi to the brink of collapse with £4bn of debt.

Parton and his fellow directors were set five milestones by creditors who took a 99.5% stake last year, the first two linked to Marconi paying off 30%, then 50% of £300m worth of junior loan notes.

Cazenove placed some 2.2m shares in the City at 590p for Marconi today as options linked to the first two targets vested. Parton sold 80% of his options, or 840,000 shares.

A Marconi spokesman pre-empted criticism, saying: 'Since the restructuring, £750m of debt has been paid off and the market value has increased by £750m.

Parton took charge in September 2001. Marconi is on course for its first sales growth in four years.