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ZPG’s Alex Chesterman awarded ‘golden handcuffs’ worth £3.1m

Founder and CEO of Zoopla's parent company given shares that tie him into at least another two years at the helm.

Nigel Lewis

Alex Chesterman, CEO of ZPG

ZPG CEO Alex Chesterman has been given a set of golden handcuffs worth £3.12 million by the company’s remuneration committee.

The share options, in which stock in the company is essentially given away free under ZPG’s Nil Cost Option plan for senior employees, can then be cashed-in at a later date.

Alex can sell the shares based on a two-tiered set of rules. Half the shares can be sold when a pre-set level of shareholder return is reached, while the other half will be handed over or vested based on time limits.

He will get the first tranche of shares at the end of September 2018 and the rest on the same date the following year.

Alex is likely to get his shares, given the company’s past performance. In November last year ZPG revealed that it revenue increased by 24% to £244.5 million compared to the 12 months before, and that its share dividend payments had increased by 10%.

He has cashed in shares in the past and takes home approximately £1 million a year, helping fund his well-known love of fast sports cars, and the recent purchase of a £6.6m holiday home in the US on Palm Beach in Florida (pictured, left).

But Zoopla’s expansions has come at a cost – as we reported earlier this month, ZPG revealed that it has taken on debts worth £267 million, and recently decided to refinance £200 million of it to secure more attractive interest rates.

January 16, 2018

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