Supervalu Execs Get ‘Golden Parachutes’

Four outgoing Supervalu executives are being given nearly $23 million in so-called “golden parachutes" in the wake of the recent $3.3 billion deal to break up the struggling grocery company.

CEO Wayne Sales, appointed last July to help the Minneapolis-based Supervalu regroup, will receive a total of $12.8 million upon his departure - $8.1 million in cash and $4.7 million in equity, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported.

Sales’ successor, Sam Duncan, will receive a $500,000 signing bonus atop an annual base salary of $1.5 million. He also is eligible for bonuses and stock options as part of his 3-year agreement, the Journal reported. Sales will leave the company when the deal with Cerberus Capital Management closes at the end of March.

Also granted golden parachutes are CFO Sherry Smith, with $3.51 million; Janel Haugarth, president of independent business and business optimization, with $3.65 million; and J. Andrew Herring, EVP for real estate, market development and legal, who will receive $2.82 million. Smith, Haugarth and Herring all received retention bonuses in August.

The payments are scheduled to be made when these executives are terminated from their positions within two years of the close of sale, the Journal reported.