Harland Deal Pays Huge Dividends for Perelman’s Right-Hand Man

NEW YORK – A more than tripling in the share price for M&F Worldwide since announcement of its deal to take over John H. Harland & Co. has reaped huge windfalls for at least one M&F insider, who earned $15 million by exercising the remainder of his M&W options in the first three weeks of May. Taub, an M&F director who runs Mafco Worldwide, the holding company that controls M&F and is owned by corporate raider Ronald Perelman, exercise 266,900 options, then sold the shares, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of the options were exercised for as little as $2.85 a share, while M&F shares were soaring to a new high of $67.98–almost four times the $18.10 they were trading at on December 20, when M&F announced its $1.7 billion deal to acquire Harland. M&F, which acquired Clarke American in 2005, is combining the two leading check printers.