'Poison pill £120m for Princess boss'

THE row over 'poison pill' payments deepened on Tuesday night with claims that a P&O Princess director stands to collect £120m if the luxury cruise line is taken over.

Non-executive Horst Rahe, who sold his German Aida lines to P&O in 2000, would be entitled to early earn-outs under the deal if there is a change of control.

The claim comes from the US leading operator, Carnival, which is aiming to break up a merger between P&O and Royal Caribbean. Carnival has mounted its own offer and said it will be prepared to pay more once it has established the size of the 'poison pill' payments put in place by P&O and Royal. Carnival claims these amount to nearly £400m before payments to Rahe are triggered off.

P&O refuses to discuss terms with Carnival and is pressing ahead with a February shareholder meeting to approve the Royal deal.