Offer to Cancel Share Options and Share Buyback
RNS Number : 5083Z
RTC Group PLC
24 May 2021
Certain information contained within this Announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR") as applied in the United Kingdom. Upon publication of this Announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.
RTC Group Plc
("RTC", "the Company" or "the Group")
Offer to Cancel Share Options and Share Buyback
The Company has today written to all employees who hold vested share options and offered to cancel them for a one-off cash consideration of 46.5p per share ("the Cash Cancellation Offer"), being the mid-market closing price per RTC Share on 21 May 2021, the last business day prior to this announcement (the "Mid-market Closing Price").
In addition, the Company intends to commence utilising the authority granted by shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting on 21 April 2021 to make market purchases of up to 2,195,091 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the Company.
Option holders will have until 5pm on 28 May 2021 to confirm the number of options that they wish to be part of the Cash Cancellation. There are currently 2,046,605 share options capable of being exercised under the Cash Cancellation. If all such options are part of the Cash Cancellation Offer this would result in a payment of approximately £0.95m being made to option holders. The Cash Cancellation Offer will be funded from the Company's cash resources and bank facilities.
Related Party Transaction
Andy Pendlebury, Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Sarah Dye, Group Finance Director of the Company who hold 933,749 options and 679,259 options respectively have indicated that they will accept the Cash Cancellation Offer in respect of their options. The participation of Mr Pendlebury and Ms Dye in the Cash Cancellation Offer will be a related party transaction for the purposes of the AIM Rules.
Bill Douie, Chairman, who will not participate in the Cash Cancellation Offer ("the Independent Director"), believes that the Cash Cancellation Offer provides a cost-effective way of reducing the fully diluted number of shares in circulation, at a fair and fixed price. The Independent Director believes that this will enhance potential future fully diluted earnings per share and future dividends per share for shareholders. The Cash Cancellation Offer also provides a cost-effective way of providing remuneration due to the Chief Executive Officer, the Group Finance Director and certain employees in respect of their share options and also reflects their performance under the ongoing highly stressful conditions well beyond the normal course of business.
The Independent Director therefore considers, having consulted with Spark, the Company's nominated adviser, that the terms of the Cash Cancellation Offer are fair and reasonable in so far as Shareholders are concerned.
| RTC Group Plc | Tel: 0133 286 1842 |
| Bill Douie, Chairman | |
| Andy Pendlebury, Chief Executive | |
| SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser) Matt Davis / Mark Brady www.Sparkadvisorypartners.com | Tel: 0203 368 3550 |
| Panmure Gordon (Broker) Nick Lovering www.panmure.com | Tel: 020 7886 2500 |