CoStar pick Jason Pellegrino eyes $7.5m payday from Domain deal
Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services is backing CoStar’s Domain takeover, putting former CEO Pellegrino on track for a multi-million-dollar payday.
CoStar’s Australian president-in-waiting and former Domain CEO, Jason Pellegrino, is bracing for a payday that could swell to roughly $7.5 million, provided the US property giant’s takeover offer is accepted at a shareholder vote next month.
Pellegrino, who will return to lead a delisted Domain as president of CoStar’s Australian subsidiary if the acquisition is approved as expected, holds 991,874 share rights that are due to vest in the weeks after the shareholder vote on 4 August.
In a report recommending that Domain shareholders approve CoStar’s offer, influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) noted that Pellegrino’s share rights are scheduled to vest and be exercised by the scheme record date, which is 20 August. The firm said he could be entitled to receive a cash payment.
“Given the substantial premium of the all-cash consideration of $4.43 for Domain shareholders, which provides certainty of value for investors, the downside risk in the short term in case the scheme is not approved, and in the absence of a superior offer, a vote FOR this proposal is warranted,” ISS stated in the report, obtained by Capital Brief.
