Debenhams directors to make fortune

The four executive directors and the chairman of Debenhams will have made over £165m between them in the three years since the chain was taken private when the company returns to the stock market this week. On top of the £107m in cash and shares that Rob Templeman, Chris Woodhouse, Michael Sharp and John Lovering stand to make when the company starts trading on Thursday, the directors also benefited from £58m of loan notes, which the company has since paid back. Details are contained in Debenhams' pathfinder prospectus, which was released last week. Thursday's flotation, which will value the company at around £3bn when debt is included, is one of the largest this year. The indicative price range is 195p-250p and analysts expect the stock to be priced at 210p-220p, just below midway in the range forecast. On that basis, it will trade on a multiple of about 14 times profits. David Cumming, head of UK equities at Standard Life Investments, said "Fund managers are not keen to sell out to private equity then see that company come back three years later. Debenhams is a classic example. Fund managers sold out at the wrong price," he said.