4basebio PLC, a biotechnology company specializing in therapeutic DNA for cell and gene therapies, has made significant changes to its long-term incentive plans for directors and staff. The company has been notified that members of the Deutsche Balaton Group, a major shareholder, now hold more than 50% of the voting rights in 2Invest AG, another major shareholder in 4basebio. This has triggered a disqualifying event for the company's EMI option scheme, giving option holders 90 days to exercise their share options or lose the future benefits of the scheme.
As a result, certain EMI option holders, including directors Heikki Lanckriet and David Roth, will exercise options and sell part of their holding to pay for the exercise of the options. This will result in the exercise of options over 476,735 new ordinary shares, raising approximately £710,000 for the company. The company's Remuneration Committee has also resolved that the long-term incentivization for senior management in the event of a future sale of the company will comprise a cash bonus calculated as a percentage of any future sale price achieved for the company that exceeds £85 million.
In addition, the Remuneration Committee has agreed to issue 78,996 unapproved options at EUR€1 per new ordinary share for non-senior management, with vesting criteria and exercise conditions mirroring those of existing options held by those option holders. Following the issue of the new ordinary shares, the issued share capital of the company will comprise 12,796,208 ordinary shares of EUR€1 each.
Application will be made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, with an expected effective date of around 7 February 2024. The total number of ordinary shares in issue following Admission will be 12,796,208, and the company does not hold any ordinary shares in treasury. The award of the bonuses to certain directors in the event of a future sale of the company constitutes a related party transaction, which the directors, except for Dr. Heikki Lanckriet and David Roth, consider to be fair and reasonable insofar as the company's shareholders are concerned.
This announcement contains inside information and for further enquiries, interested parties can contact 4basebio PLC, Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, or Cavendish Capital Markets Limited. 4basebio aims to become a market leader in the manufacture and supply of high purity, synthetic DNA for research, therapeutic, and pharmacological use, as well as develop non-viral vectors.