JD Sports is paying its former boss Peter Cowgill £5.5m over three years, on top of a year’s salary worth more than £906,000 and a potential bonus worth up to £450,000, under a deal to prevent him setting up a rival retailer.
Under the agreement, Cowgill will not be able to work for or advise any of JD Sports’ competitors for two years or to hire any of the group’s employees.
In addition, he has agreed to provide advice to its, new chair, Andy Higginson, and chief executive, Régis Schultz, for an “expected period” of three years.
The sports and leisurewear retailer said Higginson and Schultz would receive Cowgill’s continuous support and assistance, “as they transition in their new roles”.
Higginson 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.
“Having now separated the roles of chair and chief executive, recruited a new chief executive who brings a strong international and digital track record, as well as locking in the knowledge and experience of Peter, JD is well-positioned for a period of continued commercial outperformance underpinned by strong corporate governance.”
The multimillion-pound golden goodbye is the latest payout from JD for Cowgill, who had already cashed in £50m of shares in the company in the past two years.
The 69-year-old stepped down unexpectedly on 25 May, just months after the competition regulator fined the retailer more than £4m over clandestine meetings with the boss of its takeover target FootAsylum.
JD Sports was also hit by a shareholder revolt over pay last year after it emerged that Cowgill was paid almost £6m in bonuses despite the company accepting more than £100m in government support.
Before that, the company abandoned a bid for the department store chain Debenhams, but only after millions of pounds were wiped off the sports retailer’s value when details of the possible deal emerged. Just months earlier, JD Sports had controversially putits Go Outdoors subsidiary into administration, then bought it back shorn of expensive leases.
Cowgill had led the group as its outspoken chair since 2004, also becoming its chief executive in 2014. It is understood that he departed after attempting to block efforts by the board to split the two roles and bring in young blood.
His exit was a major blow to the company, where he oversaw a turnaround in fortunes since his return as chair three years after quitting as finance director in 2001.
Under his watch, the group expanded internationally, built a successful online business and joined the FTSE 100 after acquiring a portfolio of brands including Sprinter, Go Outdoors and Fishing Republic.
