Under fire from French Finance Minister, and the French dailies, Combes justified his allegedly fat payout. Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent would also be entitled to fair value compensation for the assets they contribute to the JV.
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The Journal du Dimanche newspaper, citing official documents and current share values, said Sunday he could receive nearly 14 million euros in bonuses over three years.
Michel Combes, after being appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer of Altice and Chairman of the Board of Numericable-SFR, laid out his plans for the French mobile operator.
The head of telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent rejected government pressure to renounce bonuses which could see him receive around 14 million euros ($15.7 million) as part of its buyout by rival Nokia.
“It is sort of rightly inflicting controversy”, the spokesman for the Socialist authorities Stephane Le Foll informed reporters.
“[The size of any such bonus] is always political at a time when we are emerging from what is a hard crisis for a lot of French people”.
Government officials have publicly called on Combes to reconsider accepting the bonuses.
Shares of Alcatel-Lucent have tripled since Combes, 53, became CEO in 2013.
The European Commission has already given the green light for the deal, saying it has not found any concerns to merit its blocking.
“So it is neither comprehensible nor acceptable that Mr Combes has decided today to leave the company when the transaction hasn’t even been completed, both morally and in terms of the proper functioning of the company”, he said. Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) shareholders will have the final say on whether the merger is to go through.
Nevertheless, Combes is credited with delivering something of a turnaround at Alcatel-Lucent, which struggled for years following the 2006 merger that brought it into existence.
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Nokia also announced last week it had signed an MOU with Chinese investment firm, China Hauxin. The memorandum of understanding between the two companies states that Nokia will have a majority stake in the joint venture of 50% plus one share. “His deep experience in the global telecom sector will help significantly reinforce our ability to successfully operate and integrate all of our affiliates and to continue to grow our footprint in new territories”.
