The chief executive officer of Raleigh-based PRA Health Sciences received $5.2 million in total compensation in 2016, up from $977,000 in 2015, according to a preliminary proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday afternoon.
Chief Executive Officer Colin Shannon received $4.1 million in option awards during 2016, the largest portion of which vested on Nov. 16 at a total value of $2.25 million.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Linda Baddour received $3 million in total compensation last year, up from $586,000 in 2015. Baddour received $2.4 million of her compensation in the recognition of the grant-date fair value of option awards thatvested in 2016.
Executive Vice President and Compliance Officer David W. Dockhorn received $1.5 million in 2016 consisting of $1 million of option awards, up from $522,000 in total compensation in 2015.
The option awards recognized in 2016 were the result of the company’s decision to modify the 2013 Stock Inventive Plan, relaxing certain criteria in order to free up more option awards for executives.
Under the 2013 Stock Incentive Plan, certain option awards would only vest with the achievement of a specific internal rate of return from a liquidity event such as a merger or sale.
On Jan. 10, 2016, the company decided to relax the criteria and allow the options to vest upon the announcement of a secondary offering of shares by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
PRA International was purchased by KKR in 2013, and the company was renamed PRA Health Sciences in 2014 following a series of acquisitions.
PRA executives have exercised stock options worth millions in the first months of 2017.
In February and March, Shannon and Dockhorn exercised options worth a total of $8.8 million and $4.7 million, respectively.
As of April 5, Shannon owns 745,000 shares of common stock, amounting to 1.2 percent of the outstanding total. He has been CEO since 2010.
PRA’s stock price has increased 30 percent over the past year, and closed Friday at $64.78.
