Cargills to offer share option to employees

Cargills (Ceylon) Plc has announced plans to launch an Employee Share Option Scheme (ESOS) following approval by its Board of Directors last week. 

As per the plan, the ESOS will result in the issue of up to a maximum of 6.72 million ordinary voting shares equivalent to a 3% stake in the company.

Options will be granted in three tranches - a first tranche of 3.36 million shares or 1.5% stake to be granted on or around 29 June 2017, a second tranche of 1.68  million shares or 0.75% stake on or around 1 April 2018 and a final tranche of 1.68 million shares or 0.75% stake a year later. 

Cargills said each of the tranches will be divided into three sub-tranches with different vesting periods to strike a fair balance between the objectives of serving as a tool for employee retention and allowing employees to monetise the share options without having to wait for an extended period. 

The exercise price will be the volume weighted average price of the company share during the period of 30 market days immediately prior to the respective grant date.

Options under Tranche 1 are available to all employees of the Cargills Group who have completed 15 years of service as at 29 June 2017 and do not have any material disciplinary issues during the tenure of employment. 

Options under Tranche 2 and 3 are employees of the Group of Level 6A or above who have completed five years as of the grant date of each tranche as well as up to 10 other employees with commendable performance who have been identified as ‘Rising Stars’ in the Group by Executive Directors. 

The eligible employees should be employed in the retail, dairy, agriculture, restaurants, processed meats, confectionary or wholesale distribution and marketing sectors. 

In the event of an eligible employee working across more than one sector during the respective financial year, the entitlement will be prorated based on the duration of service under each sector. The basis of allocation for Tranche 1 will be dependent on the basic salary and years of service. The basis for the other two tranches will only depend on the basic salary for that year at the commencement of the performance year. 

The company is not giving directly or indirectly any financial assistance or funds to the ESOS.