REG - Asia Strategic Ltd - Grant of Options

Asia Strategic HoldingsAnnouncement

08/03/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 0752G  Asia Strategic Holdings Limited  08 March 2024

 

8 March 2024

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd.

 

("Asia Strategic" or the "Company")

Grant of Options

Issuance of Shares in lieu of bonuses

PDMR / Director Shareholdings

and Total Voting Rights

 

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd. (LSE: ASIA), the independent developer and
manager of consumer businesses located in emerging Asia, today announces the
Company has granted options over a total of 55,000 ordinary shares of no par
value to a director of the Group. In addition, the Company has satisfied cash
payments of annual bonuses payable to certain employees through the issuance
of new ordinary shares in the Company.

 

Grant of Options and PDMR/Director Shareholding

 

The Company announces that on 7 March 2024 the Company granted options over
a total of 55,000 ordinary shares of no par value to a director of the Group,
of which 9,500 were under the Company's 2017 employee share option plan ("2017
ESOP"), 32,000 were under the Company's 2022 employee share option plan ("2022
ESOP") and 13,500 were under the Company's 2024 employee share option plan
("2024 ESOP").

 

The 55,000 share options, which represent 1.85% of the Company's current
issued share capital, are being granted to a PDMR of the Company as follows:

 

 Director / PDMR                                                   Options granted

 Jonathan Geoffrey Kolb, Chief Financial Officer (board position)  55,000

 

All options are exercisable at a price of US$11 in accordance with the
conditions of the ESOPs and subject to the following time vesting conditions:

 

·    First anniversary from grant date: 40% of the option for 2022 ESOP
and 2024 ESOP.

·    Second anniversary from grant date: Further 50% of the option for
2017 ESOP; 40% of the option for 2022 ESOP and 2024 ESOP.

·    Third anniversary from grant date: Further 30% of the option for 2017
ESOP; 20% of the option for 2022 ESOP and 2024 ESOP.

·    Fourth anniversary from grant date: Further 20% for 2017 ESOP.

 

Including this grant, total options granted to date (net of any options
lapsed) amount to 413,500 equating to 13.7% of the Company's current issued
share capital.

 

Issuance of Shares in lieu of bonuses

 

In line with previous years, the Company announces that, in lieu of cash
payments, annual bonuses payable to certain of the Company's senior employees
(including certain executive directors of the Company) relating to the
financial period ended 30 September 2023 will be satisfied through the
issuance of new ordinary shares in the Company, as detailed in the Company's
results for the 12-month period to 30 September 2023 published on 31
January 2024.

 

The Company's management acknowledges the performance and contributions of its
employees during the period. The Board agreed that certain annual bonuses for
the period will be paid through the issuance of new shares in the Company.

 

Taking into consideration the recommendations of the Remuneration Committee
of the Company, the Directors propose annual bonuses for a cumulative value
of US$280,000 to be satisfied through the issue of 56,000 new ordinary
shares in the Company at a price of US$5 per share (being the Company's
closing bid price as at 7 March 2024) (the "2023 Bonus Shares"). These
include the issue of certain of the 2023 Bonus Shares to the following
directors of the Company:

 

 Director / PDMR                                      2023 Bonus Shares issued
 Enrico Cesenni, Chief Executive Officer              25,000
 Alain Thibault, Chief Operating Officer (non-board)  25,000

 

Further information is set out in the PDMR disclosure tables below.

 

Admission and Total Voting Rights

 

An application is expected to be made shortly for the 2023 Bonus Shares to be
listed on the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Listing
Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main
market for listed securities ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will
become effective and that dealings in the 2023 Bonus Shares will commence
at 8.00 a.m. on 13 March 2024 (representing 1.89% of the Company's existing
issued share capital).

 

Following Admission, the Company will have a total of 3,021,920 ordinary
shares in issue. The above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company
as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they
are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the
share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency
Rules.

 

 

For more information, please visit www.asia-strategic.com
(http://www.asia-strategic.com/)  or contact:

 

 Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd.                                richard@asia-strategic.com

 Richard Greer, Independent Non-Executive Chairman           enrico@asia-strategic.com

 Enrico Cesenni (OSI), Founder and Chief Executive Officer

 Allenby Capital Limited (Broker)                            +44 (0)20 3328 5656

 Nick Athanas

 Nick Naylor

 Lauren Wright

 Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR)                             +44 (0) 20 3004 9512

 Sarah Hollins

 Bessie Elliot

 

Notes to editors

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd. (LSE: ASIA) is an independent developer and
operator of consumer businesses in Emerging Asia, specifically Vietnam and
Myanmar, two of the world's fastest-growing economies. The company's portfolio
focuses on Education and Services.

 

Education: the company operates brands in English language learning, coding,
K-12 international school, and tertiary education, with 20 schools serving
approximately 8,700 students at 30 September 2023.

 

The company entered into an exclusive agreement with Wall Street English in
2017 for operating rights to Myanmar and secured rights to operate Wall Street
English Vietnam through an acquisition in 2020. At September 2023, Wall Street
English Myanmar operated five schools and served ca.  3,700 students, while
Wall Street English Vietnam operated seven schools and served ca. 3,700
students.

 

The company also signed an exclusive agreement with Kids&Us in 2022 to
offer English language learning for children in Vietnam and Myanmar. At 30
September 2023, Kids&Us Vietnam operated four schools and served ca. 400
students, while Kids&Us Myanmar operated one school and served ca. 100
students.

 

In 2023, the Group entered into exclusive franchising agreements with
Logiscool to develop coding schools for children in Vietnam and Myanmar.
The company opened its maiden coding school in November 2023 in Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam and its second school in December 2023 in Yangon, Myanmar.

 

Yangon American International School launched in August 2019. It is an
accredited International Baccalaureate ("IB") Primary Years Programme ("PYP")
school and a candidate school for the IB Middle Years Programme ("MYP")
accreditation. It offered up to seventh grade in this Academic Year 2023/24
and served ca. 100 students at 30 September 2023.

 

The company has partnerships with Auston Institute of Management (Singapore)
and Liverpool John Moores University (UK) to offer internationally recognised
engineering and IT diplomas and degrees. Auston has two campuses in Yangon and
Mandalay and had ca. 750 enrolled students at 30 September 2023.

 

Services: through its acquisition of EXERA in 2018, the Group provides
protection of assets, risk management, and secure logistics services. EXERA
employs approximately 1,400 well-trained security officers in Myanmar. The
company also manages two boutique hotels in core tourist destinations in
Myanmar under the brand Ostello Bello.

 

Deploying an asset-light strategy, Asia Strategic Holdings is well-positioned
to offer investors early exposure to the robust fundamentals of Vietnam and
Myanmar.

 

To receive news alerts on Asia Strategic Holdings please sign up here under
the 'RNS' header: https://asia-strategic.com/investor-relations/
(https://asia-strategic.com/investor-relations/)

 

The notifications set out below are provided in accordance with the
requirements of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

 

Grant of Options

 

      Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely
      associated

 a)   Name                                                         Jonathan Geoffrey Kolb

 2    Reason for the notification

 a)   Position/status                                              Chief Financial Officer (board position)

 b)   Initial notification /Amendment                              Initial notification

 3    Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction

    platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

 a)   Name                                                         Asia Strategic Holdings Limited

 b)   LEI                                                          213800V5GJPLFU4F6636

 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  Ordinary shares of no par value each

      Identification code                                          Identification code (ISIN) for Asia Strategic Holdings Limited ordinary
                                                                   shares: SG9999015747

 b)   Nature of the transaction                                    Grant of options

 c)   Price(s) and volume(s)

                                                                                        Price(s)             Volume(s)
                                                                                        US$11                55,000

 d)   Aggregated information                                       n/a

      - Aggregated volume

      - Price

 e)   Date of the transaction                                      7 March 2024

 f)   Place of the transaction                                     Outside a trading venue

 

Issuance of Shares

 

 

      Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely
      associated

 a)   Name                                                         Enrico Cesenni

 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                                                         Asia Strategic Holdings Limited

 b)   LEI                                                          213800V5GJPLFU4F6636

 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  Ordinary shares of no par value each

      Identification code                                          Identification code (ISIN) for Asia Strategic Holdings Limited ordinary
                                                                   shares: SG9999015747

 b)   Nature of the transaction                                    Issue of shares in lieu of bonuses

 c)   Price(s) and volume(s)

                                                                                                        Price(s)                             Volume(s)
                                                                                                        US$5                                 25,000

 d)   Aggregated information                                       n/a

      - Aggregated volume

      - Price

 e)   Date of the transaction                                      8 March 2024

 f)   Place of the transaction                                     Outside a trading venue

 

 

 1    Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely

    associated

 a)   Name                                                         Alain Thibault

 2    Reason for the notification

 a)   Position/status                                              Chief Operating Officer (non-board position)

 b)   Initial notification /Amendment                              Initial notification

 3    Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction

    platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

 a)   Name                                                         Asia Strategic Holdings Limited

 b)   LEI                                                          213800V5GJPLFU4F6636

 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  Ordinary shares of no par value each

      Identification code                                          Identification code (ISIN) for Asia Strategic Holdings Limited ordinary
                                                                   shares: SG9999015747

 b)   Nature of the transaction                                    Issue of shares in lieu of bonuses

 c)   Price(s) and volume(s)

                                                                                        Price(s)             Volume(s)
                                                                                        US$5                 25,000

 d)   Aggregated information                                       n/a

      - Aggregated volume

      - Price

 e)   Date of the transaction                                      8 March 2024

 f)   Place of the transaction                                     Outside a trading venue

 

 

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