LEICESTER/NORTHAMPTON: BSS chief executive Gavin Slark and finance director Roddy Murray are in line for a windfall of over £1m each after agreeing to sell their company to rival merchant, Travis Perkins, for £553m.

The men have £1.7m and £1.1m of stock options respectively at the 433p-a-share offer price. Most of this will be converted to cash if the deal goes ahead. The offer is a mix of cash and TP shares.

When the announcement was made on Friday, shares in both companies soared as investors welcomed the deal.

If it goes ahead, the deal would take Travis Perkins from a 17% share if the UK plumbing maket to around 25%.

TP chief executive Geoff Cooper accepted that it could set off an investigation from the Office of Fair Trading. "These things are measured in terms of local market catchment areas," Mr Cooper said. "With five big players in the market, there will be no shortage of competition."

Market analysts speculated that a rival suiton may yet emerge for BSS. CRH, Wolseley, Grafton Group and Saint-Gobain-owned Jewson were all mentioned as rival bidders. All declined to comment.

Mr Cooper said the main reason behind the company's bid was to achieve size in the market which would also increase its buying power.

"When you go to a factory in China you cannot order a couple of cartons of central heating pumps, you need to order a container load or two to get the best prices."