JD Sports to pay former CEO Cowgill £5.5m after exit

JD Sports Fashion Plc will pay former boss Peter Cowgill at least £5.5 million ($6.3 million) as part of an exit deal after he was fired in May amid concerns about the company’s governance practices, including a meeting he had in a parking lot with the boss of a rival company.

As part of the agreement, Cowgill cannot work for or advise any competitor of the British sports network and cannot hire any of its employees, according to a statement issued Wednesday. He will also stay on as a consultant to support Chairman Andy Higginson and CEO Regis Schultz.

Cowgill will be paid £3.5m over two years for the first move and £2m over three years for the second. He is also receiving his salary, benefit and bonus until his departure in May. The company said he would comply with “his contractual notice period” of 12 months.

Shares of JD Sports were little changed in early trading.

Cowgill played a key role in the rise of JD Sports into the leading sportswear and trainers chain in Britain. The company had a rough few months when he was fired as he fast-tracked a process to split the roles of president and CEO.

Cowgill’s departure followed a series of regulatory problems for the brand in which it was found to have broken competition law by fixing the prices of certain clothing items.

It has also received a separate fine of nearly £5m from Britain’s antitrust regulator for sharing commercially sensitive information and breaching an order related to its proposed merger with smaller rival Footasylum Plc. The Competition and Markets Authority said Cowgill had met Footasylum boss Barry Bown twice while investigating the merger, including once in a car park.

“I am pleased that we have been able to get down this friendly and constructive path with Peter covering the next three years,” Higginson said Wednesday. “Peter has invaluable experience built up over 18 years that we don’t want to lose and both Regis and I are delighted to benefit from his considerable talent and advice.”

By Katie Linsell

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Source: www.businessoffashion.com