Grant of Options

Artisanal Spirits Company PLC (The)

05 May 2023

 

5 May 2023

The Artisanal Spirits Company plc

("The Artisanal Spirits Company", "ASC", "the Company" or "the Group")

Grant of Options

The Artisanal Spirits Company (AIM: ART), the owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), the leading curator and provider of premium single cask Scotch malt whisky and other spirits for sale primarily online to a discerning global membership, announces that on 4 May 2023, it awarded 555,562 options over new ordinary shares of 0.25 pence each in the Group ("Ordinary Shares") to certain employees and directors of the Group under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc Long Term Incentive Plan. This includes awards to Andrew Dane, William McCarter, Rebecca Hamilton, Kai Ivalo, Alec Burrett and Douglas Aitken as set out below.

Name	Title	Number of Options Granted	Exercise Price
Dane, Andrew	Chief Executive Officer	127,500	£0.0025
McCarter, William	Interim Finance Director	38,500	£0.0025
Hamilton, Rebecca	Chief Marketing and Experience Officer	43,750	£0.0025
Ivalo, Kai	Spirits Director	38,985	£0.0025
Burrett, Alec Edward	Director of Technology	36,750	£0.0025
Aitken, Douglas	Company Secretary and Legal Counsel	12,317	£0.0025

These options have been granted in line with the Group's Remuneration Policy and are in the form of nominal cost share options each exercisable at the nominal value of an Ordinary Share of 0.25p ("Nil-Cost Awards") and vest after three years, subject to continued employment with the Group and achievement of performance related vesting criteria relating to the share price of the Company, the achievement of revenue targets and the achievement of EBITDA targets.

Following the grant of these options, Andrew Dane is now interested in 978,300 share options in the Group, Billy McCarter is now interested in a total of 51,400 share options in the Group, Rebecca Hamilton is now interested in a total of 432,550 share options in the Group, Kai Ivalo is now interested in a total of 547,985 share options in the Group, Alec Burrett is now interested in a total of 36,750 share options in the Group and Douglas Aitken is now interested in a total of 23,905 share options in the Group. 

Following this grant there are a total of 5,250,785 share options granted over unissued Ordinary Shares granted to directors and employees, representing 7.53% of the Group's current ordinary share capital of 69,776,774 Ordinary Shares.

The below notifications made in accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation provide further detail:

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Andrew Dane
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Chief Executive Officer
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 127,500
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	William McCarter
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Interim Finance Director
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 38,500
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Rebecca Hamilton
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Chief Marketing and Experience Officer
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 43,750
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Kai Ivalo
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Spirits Director
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 38,985
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Alec Burrett
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Director of Technology
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 36,750
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Douglas Aitken
2.	Reason for the Notification
a)	Position/status	Company Secretary and Legal Counsel
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
b)	LEI	213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
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	Options over Ordinary Shares of 0.25 pence each
	Identification code	GB00BNXM3P96
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a conditional award under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) nil pence 12,317
d)	Aggregated information: ·     Aggregated volume ·     Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	4 May 2023
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

For further enquiries:

The Artisanal Spirits Company plc Andrew Dane, Chief Executive Officer  Bill McCarter, Interim Finance Director	via Instinctif PR
Liberum Capital Limited - Nominated Advisor and Broker Clayton Bush Edward Thomas Miquela Bezuidenhoudt	020 3100 2222
Instinctif Partners (Financial PR) Justine Warren Matthew Smallwood Joe Quinlan	020 7457 2020

About The Artisanal Spirits Company

The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) are curators of the world's favourite, single-cask and limited-edition whisky.

Based in Edinburgh, ASC owns The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) which was established in 1983 and currently has a growing worldwide membership of just over 37,400 paying members.

SMWS provides members with inspiring experiences, content and exclusive access to a vast and unique range of outstanding single cask Scotch malt whiskies and other craft spirits, with current stocks sourced from over 100 distilleries in 20 countries and expertly curated with diligence and care.

Since producing the Society's very first cask, we have created around 10,000 different whisky releases, producing a constant flow of unique and exciting one-of-a-kind whiskies.

With proven e-commerce reach and new brands like J.G. Thomson, ASC is building a portfolio of limited-edition and small-batch spirits brands for a global movement of discerning consumers - delivering c.£20 million in annual revenues with over 80% of revenue generated online and over 65% from outside the UK, with a growing presence in the key global whisky markets including UK, China, USA and Europe.

ASC has a pioneering business model, a substantial and growing addressable market presenting a long-term global growth opportunity and a strong and resilient business primed to deliver growth.

 

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