No Deal! Paysafe Group hit by shareholder revolt of executive pay scheme

Online payment provider, Paysafe Group Plc (Paysafe) has become the latest FTSE-listed company to face a shareholder dispute regarding executive pay.  

Despite governance announcing on Wednesday that the company was outperforming its market guidance, 52% of shareholders voted against Paysafe’s executive payment scheme at the firm’s annual general meeting.

It is understood that Paysafe investors are unhappy with CEO Joel Leonoff’s incentive package, which increased 35% to £6.7 million for 2015.

Leonoff’s incentive increase comes following a 12 month period in which he successfully completed the takeover of competitor Skrill for €1.1 billion and further listed the newly merged entity of Paysafe Group on London’s FTSE-250

UK business news sources report that a number of Paysafe investors were concerned regarding a ‘one-off’ £4.1 million payment Leonoff received in 2014 as part of a long-term incentive reward.

Furthermore, Paysafe governance issued a short statement detailing that it was “disappointed at the result of the advisory vote on the directors’ remuneration report” and that is would “continue its dialogue with shareholders on pay and wider governance matters in 2016”.

Shareholder executive pay disputes have become a trend for FTSE-listed firms. This May Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) governance had to support its remuneration policy against a backlash from shareholder advisory Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) which urged investors to veto the firm’s executive pay scheme at the PPB AGM.

PPB Chairman Gary McGann would defend the company stating the scheme was structured to retain and incentivise top leadership talent in a competitive market place.