Legg Mason issues stock to retain executives: filings

(Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc has issued shares worth $3 million to its interim chief executive, Joseph Sullivan, under what a spokeswoman said was a retention arrangement to keep him in place during a transition period.

The shares were shown in a securities filing on Wednesday by the Baltimore asset manager, which also filed details about shares issued on Monday to five other executives under retention arrangements.

On Tuesday, Legg Mason said Sullivan will take over as CEO on an interim basis on October 1 from Mark Fetting.

Fetting had steered the company through the financial crisis since 2008 but failed to stem withdrawals of cash by investors.

Legg Mason directors now face the task of finding a permanent CEO and pleasing activist investor Nelson Pelt, a board member whose firm owns roughly 10 percent of Legg Mason's shares and could buy more after a standstill agreement ends in November.

The company has said it will consider both internal and external CEO candidates.

In the filing, Legg Mason said it had issued 116,234 shares of common stock to Sullivan, currently its sales chief, which would be worth about $3 million based on Monday's closing price.

Other executives received lesser amounts of shares including Peter Nachtwey, its chief financial officer, and senior executive vice-president Ronald Dewhurst.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Paul Tait)