20th Apr 2016 11:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Greatland Gold PLC Wednesday said its board has proposed sacrificing GBP83,000 worth of their salaries and fees in exchange for shares in the company, as it looks to minimise costs whilst it progresses its strategic review of the business.
The miner restructured its board back in early April which led to Paul Johnson and Alex Borelli being appointed to the board as non-executives, but that was only formally completed earlier this week following a period of due diligence.
When that restructuring was unveiled, Greatland outlined plans to award share options to its four-strong board of directors over 100.0 million shares in the company at an exercise price of 0.2 pence each over a three year period, which, importantly, could only be exercised once Greatland's shares had traded over 0.3 pence for five trading days or more.
Those share awards have now been issued to the board, and are the only options to be held by the current directors.
To put that into some form of perspective, Greatland Gold currently has 1.39 billion shares in issue and a market capitalisation of GBP2.6 million, with its shares trading up 2.2% on Wednesday to 0.194 pence each.
However, the directors have now also proposed swapping a proportion of their salaries and fees over the next 12 months for further shares in the company, which Greatland hopes will not only reduce its costs but also increase the stakes held by its board to align them with its other shareholders.
Importantly, Greatland shareholders will have to approve the proposition at a general meeting, the date of which will be announced shortly.
Chairman Andrew Bell and Executive Director Callum Baxter have both proposed sacrificing GBP24,000 worth of their salaries over the next 12 months each in return for 13.7 million shares each.
The two newer directors, Borelli and Johnson, have each proposed sacrificing GBP17,500 worth of their respective salaries over the next 12 months in return for 10.0 million shares in Greatland each.
That brings the total amount of salary being sacrificed by the directors to GBP84,000 in return for 47.4 million shares in the company. Those shares would therefore be priced at 0.175 pence each, the company said.
If approved, the decision would mean the board has the following holdings and options in Greatland Gold:
- Chairman Bell would own 37.5 million shares, giving him a 3.02% stake, alongside 25.0 million share options.
- Executive Baxter would hold 24.6 million shares, equal to a 1.98% stake, plus 25.0 million share options.
- Non-Exec Borelli would own 10.0 million shares, or a 0.81% stake, and also hold 25.0 million share options.
- Non-Exec Johnson, and his spouse, would be interested in 64.4 million shares, equal to a 5.2% stake, alongside 25.0 million share options.
In addition, Greatland said it is aware it needs to conduct the strategic review of the business as quick as possible to take advantage of the upside potential a recovering resource market offers.
"It is also accepted that the company must be seen to communicate with regard to its activities and increase investor awareness wherever possible," said Greatland. "Reflecting this, an update announcement as to the progress of this strategic review process will be announced in due course."
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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