Savannah Resources - CEO Share Purchase & Equity Incentive Plan Update

Savannah Resources

Tue 07:00

RNS Number : 6646Z
  
Savannah Resources PLC
  
20 October 2026
  
 



 


20 October 2026


Savannah Resources Plc


(AIM: SAV) (‘Savannah’ or the ‘Company’)


 


Acquisition of 3.15 million Shares by CEO, Emanuel Proença


Equity Incentive Plan Update


 


Savannah Resources Plc, the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in Portugal, one of the European Commission’s ‘Strategic Projects’ under the Critical Raw Materials Act and Europe's largest spodumene lithium deposit, announces that its CEO, Emanuel Proença, has acquired 3,150,000 new ordinary shares of £0.01 each in the capital of the Company ("Shares") and been granted additional options over Shares (“Share Options”). The Company also announces certain amendments to its Equity Incentive Plan, which have resulted in the grant of additional Share Options to members of Savannah’s management team.


 


CEO Share purchase of 0.1% of Company’s Issued Share Capital


The acquisition of Shares by Mr Proença results from the exercise of 3,150,000 Nominal Cost Share Options. As a result, Mr Proença’s shareholding increases to 6,509,556 Shares, representing 0.21% of the Company’s Issued Share Capital.


 


CEO Elects to Receive Share Options in Lieu of cash bonus


In recognition of Mr Proença’s significant recent contribution to improving the overall risk profile of the Company and the Project, upon the recommendation of the Company’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee, he has been awarded a one-off bonus of €54,000. Mr Proença’s has elected to receive this bonus as 1,515,000 Nominal Cost Share Options in the Company, rather than as a cash payment. Reflecting the Company’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STIP”) criteria, these Share Options will vest immediately and have a duration of five years.



Equity Incentive Plan Update


The Equity Incentive Plan is designed to align Savannah’s employees’ goals with the creation of long-term shareholder value, preserve the Company’s strong cash position and help Savannah to attract and retain talented individuals.


 


Upon the recommendation of the Company's Nomination and Remuneration Committee, it has implemented amendments to the vesting performance conditions of the Long Term Incentive Plan (‘LTIP’) component of the Equity Incentive Plan, such that the milestones are Phase 1 Definitive Feasibility Study (‘DFS’) completion (30%) and Final Investment Decision (‘FID’) (70%), with the performance bands adjusted for Threshold/Target/Stretch targets from 0%/75%/100% to 0%/100%/150% respectively for both LTIP and STIP (which is payable 50:50 in cash and Share Options). The changes reflect the key milestones within the LTIP’s effective period of 2025 to the end of 2027.


 


Bruce Griffin, the Chair of Savannah's Nomination and Remuneration Committee said: “The results of the Phase 1 DFS were very encouraging and demonstrate the Project’s robustness on all fronts, including its technical, environmental, financial and social aspects. Following this successful outcome, the team continue to work extremely hard to deliver the Project, with more key milestones on the horizon as we advance towards FID next year. The amendments to the Equity Incentive Plan have been made to keep it relevant to the Project’s development timetable, while appropriately incentivising Savannah’s key staff and aligning their targets with creating long term value for shareholders. All the Board and staff at Savannah are looking forward to the very exciting period which lies ahead for the Project and the Company.”


 


Further Information - Equity Incentive Plan Update LTIP Component


 


Table 1 below sets out the 23,702,472 Share Options which have now vested in relation to the Share Options linked to the aforementioned KPIs, the maximum additional quantity of Share Options (being 25,475,000 (at Stretch targets) available for grant, reflecting the changes to the modifications to the Threshold/Target/Stretch targets criteria.


 


Table 1 – Summary of LTIP Share Options (Linked to KPIs)


 



Participant Role / Name




Previous Share Options Granted


(KPI linked)




New Share Options Granted


(KPI linked)




Total Share Options Granted


(KPI linked)




Share Options Vesting (KPI linked)




CEO – Emanuel Proença 




18,650,000




9,325,000




27,975,000




8,392,500




CFO – Henrique Freire




11,000,000




5,500,000




16,500,000




4,950,000




CCO – Michael McGarty




10,200,000




5,100,000




15,300,000




4,590,000




Other




13,683,241




5,550,000




19,233,241




5,769,972




Total




53,533,241




25,475,000




79,008,241




23,702,472



 


Admission to trading on AIM


 


In addition to the 3,150,000 Share Options exercised by Mr Proenca, another employee has exercised 510,099 Nominal Cost Share Options, thus the total of Share Options being exercised is 3,660,099.


 


Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of the 3,660,099 Shares (the “New Shares”) (“Admission”), which is expected to become effective and dealings in the New Shares on AIM will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 23 October 2026.


 


Total Voting Rights


 


Following Admission, the Company will have 3,126,175,013 Shares in issue. This figure of 3,126,175,013 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change of their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.


 


Regulatory Information


This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.


 


Savannah – Enabling Europe’s energy transition.


 



Follow @SavannahRes on X (Formerly known as Twitter)


 



Follow Savannah Resources on LinkedIn


 


 


For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com or contact:


 



Savannah Resources PLC 


Emanuel Proença, CEO


 




Tel: +44 20 7117 2489


 




 


SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor & Joint Broker)


David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)


Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)


 




 


Tel: +44 20 3470 0470


 


 




 


Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)


James Asensio / Charlie Hammond (Corporate Broking)


Ben Knott (Sales)


 





Tel: +44 20 7523 8000


 


 


 


 




Portugal Media Relations


António Neves Costa (Communications Manager)




 


Tel: +351 962 678 912



 


About Savannah


Savannah Resources is a mineral resource development company and the sole owner of the Barroso Lithium Project (the ‘Project’) in northern Portugal. The Project is the largest battery-grade spodumene lithium resource outlined to date in Europe and was classified as a ‘Strategic Project’ by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act in March 2025.


 


Through the Project, Savannah will help Portugal to play an important role in providing a long-term, locally sourced, lithium raw material supply for Europe's lithium battery value chain. Once in operation, the Project will produce enough lithium (contained in c.190,000tpa of spodumene concentrate) for approximately half a million vehicle battery packs per year and hence make a significant contribution towards the European Commission's Critical Raw Material Act goal of a minimum 10% of European endogenous lithium production from 2030. Savannah is focused on the responsible development and operation of the Barroso Lithium Project so that its impact on the environment is minimised and the socio-economic benefits that it can bring to all its stakeholders are maximised.


 


The Company is listed and regulated on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker "SAV".


 


PDMR Notification


 


Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.


 



1




Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated




a)




Name




Emanuel Proença


 




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




Savannah Resources Plc




b)




LEI




213800UCK16HW5KKGP60




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


Identification code




 


 


Exercise of nominal cost Share Options of 1.0 pence


 


ISIN: GB00B647W791




b)




Nature of the transaction




Exercise of options of 1.0 pence each in respect of the STIP component of the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan 


 




c)




Price(s) and volume(s)





 




Price(s)




Volume(s)




1.




 1.0 pence




3,150,000







d)




Aggregated information


 


Aggregated volume


 


Price




 


 


 


3,150,000


 



   pence



 


 




e)




Date of the transaction(s)




20 October 2026




f)




Place of the transaction




Off-market transaction



 


 



1




Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated




a)




Name





Emanuel Proença





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




Savannah Resources Plc




b)




LEI




213800UCK16HW5KKGP60




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


Identification code




 


 


Grant of nominal cost Share Options of 1.0 pence


 


ISIN: GB00B647W791




b)




Nature of the transaction




Grant of options of 1.0 pence each in respect of the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan.


 




c)




Price(s) and volume(s)





 




Price(s)




Volume(s)




1.




 1.0 pence




1,515,000







d)




Aggregated information


Aggregated volume


 


Price




 



1,515,000


 


1.0 pence


 




e)




Date of the transaction(s)




20 October 2026




f)




Place of the transaction




Off-market transaction



 


 



1




Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated




a)




Name





Emanuel Proença


Henrique Freire


Michael McGarty





2




Reason for the notification




a)




Position/status





Chief Executive Officer


Chief Financial Officer


Chief Corporate Officer





b)


 




Initial notification /Amendment




Initial notification




3


 




Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor




a)




Name




Savannah Resources Plc




b)




LEI




213800UCK16HW5KKGP60




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


Identification code




 


 


Grant of nominal cost Share Options of 1.0 pence


 


ISIN: GB00B647W791




b)




Nature of the transaction




Grant of options of 1.0 pence each in respect of the LTIP component of the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan. 


 




c)




Price(s) and volume(s)





 




Price(s)




Volume(s)




1.




 1.0 pence




9,325,000




2.




 1.0 pence




4,950,000




3.




 1.0 pence




4,590,000







d)




Aggregated information


 


Aggregated volume


 


Price




 


 



19,925,000


 


1.0 pence


 




e)




Date of the transaction(s)




20 October 2026




f)




Place of the transaction




Off-market transaction



 


 



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