Andy McCue to be given safety net worth millions by Paddy Power Betfair

y Power CEO Andy McCue could be paid millions of euros should he choose to leave the enlarged Paddy Power Betfair group after the planned merger of the two operators is complete.

A circular was sent out to Betfair shareholders outlining various terms of the merger and the details of which were published by The Sunday Times.

The merger, which was announced as fully agreed in September, is to be voted on by Paddy Power shareholders on December 21 and is also being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority to determine whether or not the deal will result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the UK.

Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran, who previously served as COO at Paddy Power, is to become CEO of the enlarged group and McCue will be the group’s COO.

McCue would be entitled to a severance payment of 2.5 times his salary if he leaves within 12 months as a result of feeling that his duties and responsibilities have been diminished following the merger, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2016.

McCue’s salary is €700,000 with a potential annual bonus of €350,000 and a pension award of €140,000, while he had 75,000 shares awarded under the long-term incentive plan, which will be worth more than €9m if granted and exercised in full.

The circular also showed that staff cuts will account for half of the £50m in savings as a result of the merger.

Paddy Power has over 5,000 staff and Betfair has over 1,900 employees.