Following the successful completion and integration of the Sportingbet transaction, the continued delivery of returns to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock price appreciation and consistently improving operating metrics, the Board of GVC Holdings PLC (AIM:GVC), the multinational sports betting and gaming group, today announces the issuance of share option grants under its Long Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) in order to ensure the retention of its key directors and executives.
Pursuant to the terms of the GVC LTIP as disclosed in the prospectus published in January 2013, GVC today announces the following awards of share options (the “Awards”) with an exercise price of £6.00 per share.
Details of the Awards are shown below:
| Date of grant: | 30 May2014 |
| Grant price: | €0.01 |
| Exercise price: | £6.00 (six pounds) |
| Securities: | Ordinary shares of €0.01 each in GVC Holdings PLC |
The Awards will vest in full (and become exercisable) on the share price being equal to or exceeding £6.00 per share for a continuous period of 90 calendar days at any time from the date of grant.
If there is a change of control, the Awards will vest in full immediately unless the share price is less than £5.00 per share, in which case the Awards will lapse in full.
Once vested and exercised, the recipient will be able to sell the resulting shares subject to the following restrictions:
- Immediately following exercise, the amount necessary to meet the option holder’s tax liability;
- In each calendar quarter in the two years following exercise, a maximum of 1/8 of the shares remaining following any sale pursuant to (1) above; and
- Subject to compliance with the AIM Rules and any other applicable regulation.
In relation to the options granted under the Awards and any shares resulting from an option exercise:
- Subject to the restrictions set out above, there is no obligation for the resultant shares to be retained;
- The existing rules in connection with previously issued options relating to the reinvestment of bonuses and the requirement to hold shares remain intact and unaltered;
- These share options do not attract a dividend credit; and
- The expiry date of the Awards is 31 March 2022.
Directors who are recipients of the Awards are as follows:
Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive Officer
New Award of 1,400,000 share options.
Existing share options:
800,000 share options granted at £2.13 on 21 May 2010
800,000 share options granted at £1.5479 on 28 January 2012
Total number of options granted and unexercised following the Award: 3,000,000
Richard Cooper, Chief Financial Officer
New Award of 700,000 share options.
Existing share options:
400,000 share options granted at £2.13 on 21 May 2010
400,000 share options granted at £1.5479 on 28 January 2012
Total number of options granted and unexercised following the Award: 1,500,000
Lee Feldman, Chairman, has been granted a contingent cash-based award with similar economic benefit and the same vesting conditions as the Awards but having no right to acquire shares in the Company (“Cash-Based Award”). The Cash-Based Award is based on the value of 350,000 shares.
Existing share options:
400,000 share options granted at £2.13 on 21 May 2010
400,000 share options granted at £1.5479 on 28 January 2012
Total number of options granted and unexercised: 800,000
Following the issue of the Awards, the number of shares under option in the Company will be 6,300,000 (representing 10.34% of GVC’s issued share capital).
For further information:
| GVC Holdings PLC | |
| Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7702 |
| Richard Cooper, Group Finance Director | www.gvc-plc.com |
| Daniel Stewart & Company Plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550 |
| David Hart / Paul Shackleton/ Martin Lampshire | www.danielstewart.co.uk |
Media enquiries:
| Abchurch | |
| Henry Harrison-Topham / Olivia Stuart Taylor | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7702 |
| henry.ht@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
About GVC Holdings PLC
GVC Holdings PLC is a multinational sports betting and gaming group. Its core brands are CasinoClub, Betboo and Sportingbet. The Group has over 600 employees and is headquartered in the Isle of Man and is licensed in Malta, Germany, Denmark, UK, South Africa, Italy, Alderney and the Dutch Caribbean.
Further information on the Group is available at www.gvc-plc.com