HUNDREDS of staff at Drax Power Station stand to land a very welcome Christmas present - a share in a £100 million cash bonanza.

Even the smallest payouts for the plant's 580 full-time employees would stretch well into thousands of pounds, with chairman Gordon Horsfield and former chief executive Gerald Wingrove standing to receive a £25 million slice each.

The company is planning to float on the Stock Exchange by the end of the year - but it is also offering itself for sale to the highest bidder.

Either way, full-time staff would get a share in the spoils.

The employees are entitled to the windfall, because members of the workforce have secured a percentage in the company's equity value.

Workers would get the value of their shares in cash if the company decided to sell, but in shares - which they could then decide to sell themselves.

The flotation is likely to happen in December, or even earlier if management at Drax decides to sell the plant. The hand-outs would be made on a pro-rata basis to full-time employees only, with payments varying according to length of service and seniority.

One report suggested the least amount paid to staff might be in the region of £20,000, and the spokesman said that figure was likely to be fairly accurate.

The news is a massive turn-around for a company that only two years ago was on the verge of liquidation. It had already started to heave itself out of the financial doldrums by August the following year, when its operating profits were £16 million more than forecast. As figures stood at lunchtime yesterday, the company was worth £2.25 billion.

"The longer you've been with the firm, the greater your pro-rata entitlement will be," the spokesman said. "Restructuring has meant that the company is in very good financial shape. Yes, it's quite a lot of money, but you have to look at the value that's been created for the investors."

Companies interested in buying the huge power plant have been asked to submit their bids by November, and US energy and finance giants have already put up initial offers worth billions - both of which have been rejected.

An American finance consortium which includes Apollo Management, Texas Pacific Group Europe and TowerBrook Capital Partners, made an offer worth £2.075 billion.

Last month, American energy giant Constellation Energy Group Inc, together with finance company Perry Capital, put a£1.9 billion bid for the plant on the table.

Updated: 09:37 Saturday, October 15, 2005