JD Sports chair agrees £5.5m exit deal
The exit deal will see Peter Cowgill assume a consultant position within the group
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JD Sports has reached an agreement with former chairman Peter Cowgill, which will see him receive £5.5m in an exit deal that will put him in a consultant position for the group following his departure last May.
The arrangements include a binding set of covenants for a two-year period, replacing the “very limited” provisions in Cowgill’s 18-year-old contract to align him and the company’s commercial interests, and “prevent him from working for or advising any of the company’s competitors”.
Cowgill will receive £3.5m over two years for this restriction, and in addition, a consultancy agreement has been struck for an expected period of three years whereby Cowgill will be paid £2m.
The group said this “ensures that both Andy Higginson and Régis Schultz receive his continuous support and assistance as they transition in their new roles”, and give ongoing access to his knowledge and experience in building JD into the company that it is today.
It is reported that up to that period Cowgill has been paid his salary, contractual benefits and will also be eligible for any appropriate annual bonus, which will be paid on a pro rata basis for the period he remained in full time employment.
According to JD Sports, for the period after 25 May, it will only honour his contractual notice period of 12 months.
Separate from this issue, JD Sports’ board of directors, has reportedly reached an agreement with Cowgill on two new arrangements which it “firmly believes are in the best interests of the business and its shareholders”.
Andy Higginson, chair of JD Sports, said: “I am pleased that we have been able to reach this amicable and constructive way forward with Peter covering the next three years. Peter has hugely valuable experience built over 18 years which we do not want to lose and both Régis and I are delighted to be able to benefit from his considerable talent and advice.
“This caps off what, by any measure, has been a remarkable period of executive leadership by Peter who has been such a core part of the business’s incredible success story to date.”
He added: “We are pleased to have settled the terms of his departure and more importantly, to have secured a seamless handover and access to his decades of experience, whilst best protecting our commercial interests.”
