Executives from MapInfo Corp. are poised to make millions of dollars from the company's acquisition by Pitney Bowes Inc.
   
MapInfo CEO Mark Cattini stands to make roughly $5.6 million from the deal, which is expected to close in the next couple of months.

Cattini and other MapInfo executives hold options to purchase MapInfo stock that they received as part of their compensation packages.

Securities and Exchange Commission documents show that Cattini holds roughly 539,972 stock options. Those options had a cash value of about $1.64 million back at the end of the company's fiscal year-end on Sept. 29, when the stock closed at $12.83.

Pitney Bowes' offer is for $20.25 per share, however, significantly increasing the value of the options.

Although Cattini owns 2 percent of the company's shares according to SEC documents, investment management firms own the largest stakes in the company, which is headquartered in North Greenbush and sells mapping software and data to business and government customers.

The largest shareholder is Kopp Investment Advisors LLC of Edina, Minn., which owned nearly 1.2 million shares as of March 12, a 5.4 percent stake.

Chief Operating Officer Michael Hickey stands to make roughly $2.43 million in the merger, according to SEC documents, and Chairman John Cavalier could make about $3.4 million.

A MapInfo spokeswoman declined to comment about the payouts but did not challenge the numbers, which were calculated using data included in merger documents filed this week with the SEC.

Based in Stamford, Conn., Pitney Bowes sells mail-management equipment such as postage meters, mail openers, scales and sorters. It has $5.7 billion in annual sales.

Its proposal to acquire MapInfo is structured as a tender offer, meaning the company is offering to directly buy MapInfo stock for $20.25 a share. The process does not require a shareholder vote as long as it acquires more than 90 percent of MapInfo's shares.

In the case of the holders of stock options, which includes management as well as rank-and-file employees, all stock options will vest immediately before the merger, and each option will be exchanged for cash.

The amount that employees will receive for each option will be calculated by subtracting the options exercise price -- which is the price the stock was worth on the day the option was granted -- from Pitney Bowes' offer of $20.25. Hickey told employees in a recent e-mail that they will be paid for their options within five days of the close of the merger.
 

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