Grant of Share Options

RNS Number : 1505A

Gfinity PLC

22 December 2017

 

Gfinity plc

("Gfinity" or the "Company")

Grant of Share Options

Gfinity (AIM: GFIN), a leading eSports business, announces that it has today awarded a total of 3,000,000 options over ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") to certain Directors (the "Options"). These Options were granted under the Company's unapproved share option scheme ("Non-EMI Scheme").

The Options are exercisable at the closing mid-market price of Ordinary Shares at 21 December 2017, being 23.125 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Exercise Price").

The Options are exercisable after a minimum period of two years and in the event that the closing mid-market price of Ordinary Shares has exceeded 200 per cent. of the Exercise Price for a minimum period of 30 consecutive business days during that period.  The Options expire on 21 December 2027 if not exercised.

The Options have been awarded in acknowledgment of the additional contribution the recently appointed non-executive directors are expected to make in the next phase of the Company's development.  Further details on the options granted are set out below:

Director	Position	Number of Options granted	Total options held following the grant
Garry Cook	Non-Executive Director	1,000,000	1,000,000
Preeti Mardia	Non-Executive Director	1,000,000	1,000,000
Andy MacLeod	Non-Executive Director	1,000,000	1,000,000

In aggregate, the 3,000,000 Options granted to the Directors represent approximately 1.37 per cent. of the current issued share capital of the Company.

Following the grant of the Options, the total number of Ordinary Shares outstanding under option arrangements is 26,216,711, representing 12.0 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital.

Enquiries:

Gfinity plc	www.gfinityplc.com
Neville Upton, Chief Executive Officer	Via Walbrook PR
Allenby Capital Limited - AIM Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel. [phone]
Jeremy Porter / John Depasquale / James Thomas
Walbrook PR (Media & Investor Relations)	Tel: [phone]
Paul Cornelius /Sam Allen	or [e-mail]

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Garry Cook
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-executive director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Gfinity plc
b)	LEI	213800GNV14EDQNRWI17
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.1p each in Gfinity plc Identification code (ISIN) for Gfinity plc ordinary shares: GB00BT9QD572
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options over ordinary shares
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) 23.125p 1,000,000
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	22 December 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Preeti Mardia
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-executive director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Gfinity plc
b)	LEI	213800GNV14EDQNRWI17
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.1p each in Gfinity plc Identification code (ISIN) for Gfinity plc ordinary shares: GB00BT9QD572
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options over ordinary shares
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) 23.125p 1,000,000
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	22 December 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Andy MacLeod
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-executive director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Gfinity plc
b)	LEI	213800GNV14EDQNRWI17
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.1p each in Gfinity plc Identification code (ISIN) for Gfinity plc ordinary shares: GB00BT9QD572
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options over ordinary shares
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) 23.125p 1,000,000
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	22 December 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

About Gfinity

Founded in 2012, Gfinity has established itself as one of the world's leading esports companies.  The London-based business enjoys strong relationships with game publishers, players and the wider esports community and has built a solid reputation for delivering high quality competitions, both on-line at www.gfinityesports.com and off-line, in addition to producing industry leading esports broadcasts.

The Gfinity Esports Arena at Fulham Broadway, London is the home of UK esports showcasing regular tournaments across the full range of competitive games. Beyond its own tournaments Gfinity provides a full turnkey solution for brands wanting to create their own esports tournaments and has staged premium esports events around the globe for leading publishers and brands including Formula 1, Microsoft, Activision, EA, Xbox, Gillette and HP.

Gfinity Challenger and Elite Series:

·     Challenger Series has had over 20,000 18-35-year-old gamers participate from 18 different countries

·     Elite Series Season 1 created 180 hours of live broadcast viewed by over 3M people in more than 30 countries 

·     Through the first seven weeks of Elite Series Season 2, total views were 3.64M showing a 40% increase on Elite Series Season 1 viewership

Gfinity is an accredited official EA SPORTS™ FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier as EA brings competitive FIFA to millions of fans around the world through the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 in August 2018. 

For more details on the entire EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series, please visit www.FUTChampions.com

For more information about the Challenger season, which is free and open to everyone, please visit https://challenger.gfinityesports.com/

About esports

Esports (electronic sports) is watching or playing competitive video gaming. Leading titles include League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2), Call of Duty and Rocket League. The industry is growing rapidly, with new communities developing around more and more titles. The global esports market generated US$493 million of revenue in 2016 and is expected to make $1.5 billion by 2020. The global esports audience in 2017 was 191 million people, 80% under the age of 35 and 70% male (source: Newzoo). Online streaming channels Twitch and YouTube command the biggest audiences, although esports events are also now being broadcast on conventional TV.  The 2015 League of Legends Championships finals in Berlin were watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers, while at DotA 2's flagship annual championship 'The International 2016' competitors from around the world competed for a prize pot of over $20 million.

 

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