Sportingbet investors rebel over controversial pay-offs Sportingbet is expected to announce as early as Friday that it has accepted a £485m takeover approach from its bigger rival William Hill and GVC Holdings. Andrew McIver, Sportingbet's chief executive, and its finance director, Jim Wilkinson, will walk away from the group with two years" worth of salary, bonuses, pension payments and other benefits if they leave as expected following the acquisition. The bumper two-year pay-offs contravene the UK corporate governance code and attracted the ire of shareholder group Pirc. At Sportingbet's annual meeting on Wednesday, 21.7pc of votes were cast against the company's remuneration report. It was the second time Sportingbet had courted controversy over executive pay and 13.9pc of investors voted against its remuneration report at 2011"s annual meeting. Mr McIver, 49, who has been chief executive of Sportingbet since 2006, could walk away with a severance package worth up to £2.4m if a maximum bonus is approved. The betting boss also holds more than 3m Sportingbet shares, meaning he stands to bank more than £1.7m in cash and shares if William Hill's latest offer is accepted. The three parties have until Friday to agree a deal. William Hill and GVC recently reduced their offer to 56.1p from 61.1p a share following weaker than expected quarterly results from Sportingbet. The majority of Sportingbet shareholders are expected to receive about 50.4p a share in cash, while the remainder will be paid in GVC shares.