Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS Number : 1133J

Cairn Energy PLC

06 September 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6 September 2016

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn" or "the Company")

Interest of Person Discharging Managerial Responsibility ("PDMR")

in the Company's Shares

Purchase of Partnership Shares / Award of Matching Shares under the Company's

2010 Share Incentive Plan (the "SIP")

Cairn announces that, on 6 September 2016, the trustee (the "Trustee") of the Company's HMRC approved all-employee SIP purchased ordinary shares of ²³¹/₁₆₉ pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") in the market at a price of £1.9232 per Ordinary Share on behalf of the participant below in the "Partnership Share" element of the SIP using a deduction made from their gross salary.

Cairn also announces that, on 6 September 2016, an award of further Ordinary Shares was made to the participant below under the "Matching Share" element of the SIP on the basis of two free Matching Shares for every one Partnership Share purchased. The Ordinary Shares used to satisfy these awards were previously purchased in the market by the Trustee.

Details of the PDMR who participated in the purchase / award are as follows:-

Director / PDMR

Number of Partnership Shares Purchased

Number of Matching Shares Awarded

Total Number of Shares Acquired

Richard Ember, Regional Director, International

935

1,870

2,805

In accordance with the rules of the SIP, Partnership and Matching Shares are initially held by the Trustee on the participant's behalf and, in the case of Matching Shares, must normally remain so held throughout a period of five years from the date of award.

Following this announcement, Richard Ember's beneficial interests in the Shares of the Company are as follows:

Executive Director / PDMR

Current Shares

% Issued Share Capital

Outstanding entitlements under 2009 LTIP

Unvested Awards still subject to performance conditions

Vested but unexercised Awards

Richard Ember

1,762

4,567

0.0008

433,615