9 May
2024
The Artisanal Spirits Company
plc
("The
Artisanal Spirits Company", "ASC", "the Company" or "the
Group")
Grant of
Options
The Artisanal Spirits Company (AIM:
ART), the creator of outstanding, limited-edition whiskies and
experiences around the world, and owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky
Society, Single Cask Nation & J.G. Thomson, announces that on 8 May 2024, it awarded 1,282,848
options over new ordinary shares of 0.25 pence each in the Group
("Ordinary Shares") to certain employees and directors of the Group
under the Artisanal Spirits Company plc Long Term Incentive Plan.
This includes awards to Andrew Dane, William McCarter, Kai Ivalo,
Anne Phillips and Douglas Aitken as set out below.
|
Name
|
Title
|
Number of Options Granted
|
Exercise Price
|
|
Dane, Andrew
|
Chief Executive Officer
|
262,650
|
£0.0025
|
|
McCarter, William
|
Chief Financial Officer
|
193,125
|
£0.0025
|
|
Ivalo, Kai
|
Spirits Director
|
80,309
|
£0.0025
|
|
Anne Phillips
|
Marketing Director
|
57,680
|
£0.0025
|
|
Aitken, Douglas
|
Company Secretary & Legal
Counsel
|
25,373
|
£0.0025
|
These options have been granted in
line with the Group's Remuneration Policy and are in the form of
nominal cost share options each exercisable at the nominal value of
an Ordinary Share of 0.25p ("Nil-Cost Awards") and vest after three
years, subject to continued employment with the Group and
achievement of performance related vesting criteria relating to the
share price of the Company, the achievement of revenue targets and
the achievement of EBITDA targets.
Following the grant of these
options, Andrew Dane is now interested in 1,240,950 share options
in the Group, Billy McCarter is now interested in a total of
299,775 share options in the Group, Kai Ivalo is now interested in
a total of 628,294 share options in the Group, Anne Phillips is now
interested in a total of 65,330 share options in the Group and
Douglas Aitken is now interested in a total of 48,940 share options
in the Group.
Following this grant there are a
total of 5,360,862 share options granted over unissued Ordinary
Shares granted to directors and employees, representing 7.60% of
the Group's current ordinary share capital of 70,559,774 Ordinary
Shares.
The below notifications made in
accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation
provide further detail:
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities
/ person closely associated
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
Andrew Dane
|
|
2.
|
Reason for the Notification
|
|
a)
|
Position/status
|
Chief Executive Officer, Executive
Director
|
|
b)
|
Initial
notification/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
|
3.
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant,
auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
|
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
|
|
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 0.25 pence
each
|
|
Identification code
|
GB00BNXM3P96
|
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of a conditional award under the
Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive
Plan
|
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volume(s)
|
|
Price(s)
|
Volume(s)
|
|
Nil pence
|
262,650
|
|
|
|
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information:
· Aggregated volume
· Price
|
N/A - single transaction
|
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
8 May 2024
|
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities
/ person closely associated
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
Billy McCarter
|
|
2.
|
Reason for the Notification
|
|
a)
|
Position/status
|
Chief Financial Officer, Executive
Director
|
|
b)
|
Initial
notification/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
|
3.
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant,
auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
|
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
|
|
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 0.25 pence
each
|
|
Identification code
|
GB00BNXM3P96
|
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of a conditional award under the
Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive
Plan
|
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volume(s)
|
|
Price(s)
|
Volume(s)
|
|
Nil pence
|
193,125
|
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information:
· Aggregated volume
· Price
|
N/A - single transaction
|
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
8 May 2024
|
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities
/ person closely associated
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
Kai Ivalo
|
|
2.
|
Reason for the Notification
|
|
a)
|
Position/status
|
Spirits Director
|
|
b)
|
Initial
notification/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
|
3.
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant,
auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
|
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
|
|
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 0.25 pence
each
|
|
Identification code
|
GB00BNXM3P96
|
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of a conditional award under the
Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive
Plan
|
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volume(s)
|
|
Price(s)
|
Volume(s)
|
|
Nil pence
|
80,309
|
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information:
· Aggregated volume
· Price
|
N/A - single transaction
|
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
8 May 2024
|
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities
/ person closely associated
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
Anne Phillips
|
|
2.
|
Reason for the Notification
|
|
a)
|
Position/status
|
Marketing Director
|
|
b)
|
Initial
notification/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
|
3.
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant,
auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
|
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
|
|
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 0.25 pence
each
|
|
Identification code
|
GB00BNXM3P96
|
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of a conditional award under the
Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive
Plan
|
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volume(s)
|
|
Price(s)
|
Volume(s)
|
|
Nil pence
|
57,680
|
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information:
· Aggregated volume
· Price
|
N/A - single transaction
|
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
8 May 2024
|
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities
/ person closely associated
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
Douglas Aitken
|
|
2.
|
Reason for the Notification
|
|
a)
|
Position/status
|
Company Secretary and Legal Counsel
|
|
b)
|
Initial
notification/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
|
3.
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant,
auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
|
|
a)
|
Name
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
|
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800KX7VF2YZQW1892
|
|
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 0.25 pence
each
|
|
Identification code
|
GB00BNXM3P96
|
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of a conditional award under the
Artisanal Spirits Company plc 2021 Long-Term Incentive
Plan
|
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volume(s)
|
|
Price(s)
|
Volume(s)
|
|
Nil pence
|
25,373
|
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information:
· Aggregated volume
· Price
|
N/A - single transaction
|
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
8 May 2024
|
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
Enquiries:
|
The Artisanal Spirits Company plc
Andrew Dane, Chief Executive
Officer
Billy McCarter, Chief Financial
Officer
|
via
Instinctif PR
|
|
Liberum Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
Edward Thomas
Dru Danford
John More
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2222
|
|
Instinctif Partners (Financial PR)
Justine Warren
Matthew Smallwood
Joe Quinlan
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7457 2020
|
About The Artisanal
Spirits Company
ASC's purpose is to captivate a
global community of whisky adventurers, creating and selling
outstanding, limited-edition whiskies and experiences around the
world with an ambition to create a high quality, highly profitable
and cash generative, premium global business.
Based in Edinburgh, ASC
owns The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Single Cask
Nation (SCN) and J.G. Thomson (JGT). Owning over 17,000
casks primarily comprising Single Malt Scotch Whisky, ASC's stock
includes outstanding whisky (and other spirits) from 150 different
distilleries across 20 countries which is sold to members both as
individual bottles and whole casks.
Established in 1983, SMWS currently
has a growing worldwide membership of over 41,000 paying members.
With an established global presence in some 30 countries, SMWS
operates a direct-to-consumer model (90% of revenue) primarily
through e-commerce, in addition to four member rooms in
the UK. SMWS provides members with inspiring experiences,
content and exclusive access to a vast and unique range of
outstanding, expertly curated Scotch malt and other
whiskies.
In January 2024, ASC acquired SCN
which sources, curates and bottles single-cask whiskies and other
spirits selling both online and via traditional retail channels to
its following of over 10,000 whisky enthusiasts in the USA. SCN
also retails to international markets including the UK, Germany,
Sweden, Japan, Israel and Canada.
Launched in the UK in late
2021, JGT has a focus on outstanding small batch blended malt
whiskies and other spirits, available both through
direct-to-consumer online sales and through traditional retail
channels. The award-winning brand has subsequently expanded into
international markets.
With proven e-commerce reach and a
growing family of brands, ASC is building a portfolio of
limited-edition and small-batch whisky and other spirits brands for
a global movement of discerning consumers - delivering revenue
of £23.5 million in FY23, predominantly from outside
the UK, with an expanding presence in the other key global
whisky markets
including USA, China, Europe, Japan, Australia and Taiwan.
ASC has a pioneering business model,
a substantial and growing addressable market presenting a long-term
global opportunity and a strong and resilient business primed to
deliver growth.