Grant of Options

Mercia Asset Management PLC

15 August 2023

 

RNS	15 August 2023

Mercia Asset Management PLC

("Mercia", the "Group" or the "Company")

Grant of Options

Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive, regionally focused specialist asset manager with c.£1.4billion of assets under management, announces that options (the "Options") over a total of 8,094,000 new Ordinary shares with a nominal value of £0.00001 each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") were awarded yesterday pursuant to the 2014 Mercia Company Share Option Plan at an exercise price of 26.80p per Ordinary Share (being the closing mid-market price of an Ordinary Share on 14 August 2023). The Options will, subject to the satisfaction of the performance condition, vest in three equal tranches on the third, fourth and fifth anniversary of the date of grant of the Options.

The Options represent, in aggregate, 1.81% of the existing Ordinary share capital of the Company and have been issued to a number of employees of the Company, including one person discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMR"). 

Following the grant of these Options, the Company has a total of 36,198,530 options in issue pursuant to the 2014 Mercia Company Share Option Plan, equating to approximately 8.11% of the existing issued Ordinary share capital of the Company.

Following the grant of these Options, the PDMR holds the following options:

Name	Role	Grant of Options over Ordinary Shares	Total number of options over Ordinary Shares
Ross Gardner	PDMR - Group Financial Controller	50,000	250,000

The notification below, made in accordance with the requirements of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, provides further detail.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by person discharging managerial responsibilities.

1	Details of the persons discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated
a)	Name	(i) Ross Gardner
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	PDMR of the Company
b)	Initial Notification /Amendment	Initial Notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Mercia Asset Management PLC
b)	Legal Entity Identifier	213800A1Q4CF57NECG66
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 £0.00001 each ISIN: GB00BSL71W47
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options
c)	Currency	GBP
d)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Exercise Price	No. of shares
		£0.268	50,000
e)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price - Aggregated total	N/A - single transaction
f)	Date of the transaction	14 August 2023
g)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Mercia Asset Management PLC Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer www.mercia.co.uk	[phone]
Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Simon Bridges, Emma Gabriel
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Harry Gooden, James Moat
FTI Consulting	[phone]
Tom Blackwell, Immy Ransom
[e-mail]

About Mercia Asset Management PLC

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of venture, private equity, debt and proprietary capital: the Group's 'Complete Connected Capital'. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow.

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the EPIC "MERC".

 

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