Grant of Options and Issue of Shares

RNS Number : 5704H

Zoo Digital Group PLC

12 July 2012

 



ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC

("ZOO" or "the Company")

Grant of options and issue of shares to directors and employees

ZOO, the provider of workflow management software and services for creative media production, announces the following concerning the granting of options and issue of shares to all employees of the Company.

Grant of options

On 12 July 2012, a total of 711,667 new options over ordinary shares in the Company of 15p each ("Options" and "Ordinary Shares") were granted to selected employees of the Company, including the issue of 150,000 Options to each of Stuart Green, Helen Gilder and Gordon Doran (being directors of the Company).

The Options are exercisable at 15p per share and, in the case of Options issued to directors and senior employees, are exerciseable only if the average mid-market closing price of the Company's Ordinary Shares has met or exceeded 40p per Ordinary Share for the twenty consecutive business days prior to exercise. The Options will vest as follows: 40% on the first anniversary of issuance, 30% on the second anniversary, and vest fully on the third anniversary of issuance. All options will lapse on the tenth anniversary of issuance.

Following the granting of the Options, the interests of the relevant directors in Options are as set out below:

	No. of Options previously held	No. of Options granted	Resultant interest in Options
Stuart Green	175,000	150,000	325,000
Helen Gilder	550,000	150,000	700,000
Gordon Doran	550,000	150,000	700,000

Issue of shares

As in previous years and in order to continue to align employees' interests with shareholders of the Company, a total of 290,920 Ordinary Shares (the "Award Shares") previously held beneficially by the ZOO Employee Share Trust Limited ("ZEST") have been granted at nil cost to all employees (including executive directors).

The shares are to be held for employees within ZEST or the Company's Share Incentive Plan (the "SIP").

Following the granting of the Award Shares, the beneficial shareholding of relevant directors are as follows:

	Prior beneficial shareholding	Grant of Award Shares as outlined above	Resultant beneficial shareholding
Stuart Green	4,861,768 (14.9%)	2,800	4,864,568 (14.9%)
Helen Gilder	65,087 (0.20%)	2,800	67,887 (0.21%)
Gordon Doran	3,233 (0.01%)	2,800	6,033 (0.02%)

Mr Roger Jeynes, chairman of the Company, has waived his entitlement to a grant of Award Shares.

ZEST is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZOO whose purpose is to hold shares in ZOO for the benefit of the employees of the Group. The overall interest of ZEST is 558,055 ordinary shares (representing 1.64% of ZOO's total voting rights). Subsequent to the granting of the Award Shares to employees, ZEST is now the beneficial owner of 29,869 ordinary shares, the balance being held in trust by ZEST on behalf of employees.

For further enquiries please contact:

ZOO Digital Group plc	0114 241 3700
Stuart Green - Chief Executive Officer
Helen Gilder - Group Finance Director
FinnCap	020 7220 0500
Marc Young / Henrik Persson
Newgate Threadneedle	020 7653 9850
Josh Royston / Terry Garrett / Hilary Millar

About ZOO Digital Group plc:

ZOO Digital Group plc provides software and related services that support the authoring, re-purposing and distribution of creative media. ZOO's products form an integrated suite of cloud-based and desktop applications for audio/visual content and printed materials, adapting these media for different languages, formats and delivery mechanisms.

By centralising editorial and approval processes via secure cloud-based platforms, ZOO's proprietary patented software helps customers to increase their speed of production, reduce costs and protect their brand integrity. ZOO's services enable quicker and more cost effective processes across a wide range of applications and formats, including packaging, printed materials, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, video on demand, electronic sell-through, broadcast, music and electronic books.

The Group's largest customers include major Hollywood studios, for which the production, marketing and distribution of titles in numerous formats across many geographies and languages has previously been a lengthy, costly and largely manual process. Increasingly the Group's software is benefiting a variety of companies across sectors where the development of media products, printing, packaging and marketing involves complex processes in multiple countries and languages, particularly where brand integrity is of core importance.

 

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