CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The filing is 167 pages and deals mostly with legal matters and logistics, but it also spells out details about the bonuses and huge payouts top Harris Teeter executives stand to get if the deal goes through.
The latest SEC filing said leaders expect the merger to happen in the fourth quarter of 2013.
It puts the value of Harris Teeter at $2.5 billion with 49.6 million shares changing hands.
At $49.38 per share, 34 percent higher than the price back in January when the merger news first broke.
Top executives stand to make a bundle getting a 35 percent bonus based on their salary if the deal goes through, totaling almost $800,000, but that is chump change compared to what is called golden parachute compensation if they are terminated because of the merger.
The numbers, which include cash, stocks, pensions, even tax reimbursement are staggering CEO Tom Dickson alone could get a $16 million payout, and there are stiff penalties if either side backs out – a $75 million termination fee for Harris Teeter and a $200 million for Kroger.
The filing also said as far back as April 2011 Harris Teeter was talking to another supermarket chain about a merger, but that deal never panned out. Then they contacted JP Morgan Chase last year who had several companies interested in a merger.
In the end Harris Teeter said the Kroger deal was the best one.
Harris Teeter stock closed on Tuesday below that $49.38 merger sale price.
A date for the vote has not been set yet and of course the whole deal has to be approved by the government.
WSOC
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