Jan Bennink, top man at Dutch baby food group Numico, could make around €81m from the sale of his company to France’s Danone, according to today’s Volkskrant. The sale of Numico was announced on Monday after the stock exchange closed.

Bennink has said he will cash in his package of shares and options in Numico and this will make him the best paid manager ever in the Netherlands, the paper says.
The shares and options were awarded to Bennink over the last five years. The options amount to €43m and, based on the €55 per share Danone is offering for Numico, the shares are now worth €38m according to the Volkskrant.
Numico declined to comment but a spokesman confirmed to the paper that Danone has said that it is prepared to pay Bennink’s full bonus package.
Bennink has headed Numico since 2002 and has turned the company around. He will step down once the transaction with Danone is completed.
Danone has offered to buy Numico for €12.3bn. The Dutch company will be delisted from the Amsterdam stock market if the takeover goes ahead.
Trading in Numico shares were suspended on Monday after a ‘spectacular’11.4% rise in the share price. The Volkskrant quotes an anonymous analyst suggesting ‘insider trading’ with nine million shares changing hands. ‘The normal level is two million at the most,’ the analyst told the paper.
Financial markets watchdog AFM declined to react to the claim of insider trading but told the paper that the matter has its attention.