Glaxo Sets Up bn Stock Options

Glaxo Wellcome has set up share options schemes for its employees worth nearly £1 billion, The Times said yesterday. The schemes would have paid out about £1.4 billion if the merger with SmithKline Beecham had materialised. About 20,000 Glaxo employees are beneficiaries of group schemes and were in line to make £70,000 each from the deal. The massive cost of the schemes, which give employees over 114 million shares is understood to have been a factor in the negotiations with SmithKline, the paper reported.