Grant of Options

RNS Number : 2166B

Mercia Asset Management PLC

29 January 2020

 

RNS	29 January 2020

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, announces that options (the "Options") over a total of 5,412,140 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 24.30p per Ordinary Share (being the closing mid-market price of an Ordinary Share on 28 January 2020). 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, 1.23% of the existing issued share capital of the Company and have been awarded to a number of employees of the Company, including the three Executive Directors and three further persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMRs"). 

Following these grants, the Company has a total of 16,450,140 unvested options pursuant to the 2014 Mercia Company Share Option Plan, equating to approximately 3.74% of the existing issued share capital of the Company.

Following this grant of Options, PDMRs hold the following Ordinary Shares and Options:

Name	Role	Grant of Options over Ordinary Shares	Total number of Options over Ordinary Shares	Interest in existing issued Ordinary Shares
Dr. Mark Payton	Chief Executive Officer	946,502	1,746,502	6,799,653
Martin Glanfield	Chief Financial Officer	823,045	1,623,045	543,369
Julian Viggars	Chief Investment Officer	823,045	2,123,045	582,325*
Peter Dines	PDMR	769,547	1,369,547	186,551
John Simpson	PDMR	200,000	450,000	754,997
Ceri Bailey	PDMR	50,000	150,000	21,739

*Including 75,000 Ordinary Shares held by Mrs Emma Viggars.

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) Dr. Mark Payton - Chief Executive Officer (ii) Martin Glanfield - Chief Financial Officer (iii) Julian Viggars - Chief Investment Officer (iv) Peter Dines - PDMR (v) John Simpson - PDMR (vi) Ceri Bailey - PDMR
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Executive Directors and PDMRs 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
		£0.2430	(i) 946,502
		£0.2430	(ii) 823,045
		£0.2430	(iii) 823,045
		£0.2430	(iv) 769,547
		£0.2430	(v) 200,000
		£0.2430	(vi) 50,000
e)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price - Aggregated total	N/A - single transactions
f)	Date of the transaction	28 January 2020
g)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

For further information, please contact:

Mercia Asset Management PLC	[phone]
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer
www.mercia.co.uk
Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Simon Bridges, Richard Andrews
N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)
Harry Gooden, James Moat	[phone]
Buchanan Communications	[phone]
Chris Lane, Vicky Hayns, Stephanie Watson
www.buchanan.uk.com

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 balance sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital; the Group's 'Complete Capital Solution'. 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 regional footprint through its eight offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia has c.£775million of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over £90million across its direct investment portfolio.

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

 

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