TIDMHOTC

RNS Number : 6858A

Hotel Chocolat Group PLC

24 January 2024

24 January 2024

Hotel Chocolat Group plc

(" Hotel Chocolat ", the "Company" or the "Group")

Director/PDMR Dealing - Exercise of Options

The Company announces that options ("Options") over 2,966,984 ordinary shares of 0.1p in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") have been exercised pursuant to the Hotel Chocolat Group plc 2016 Long Term Incentive Plan (the "Plan"). The Options were subject to an exercise price of 0.1 pence per Ordinary Share.

Certain of the Options have been exercised by persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMRs"), as set out below:

 
 PDMR / Director              No. of Shares covered by Options exercised 
                               under the Plan 
 Jonathan Akehurst (Chief 
  Financial Officer)          416,667 
                             ------------------------------------------- 
 Peter Harris (Development 
  Director and Co-founder)    166,667 
                             ------------------------------------------- 
 Angus Thirlwell (Chief 
  Executive Officer and 
  Co-founder)                 525,000 
                             ------------------------------------------- 
 

The Company also announces that options over a further 210,865 Ordinary Shares have been exercised pursuant to the Hotel Chocolat Group plc 2016 Save As You Earn Plan and Hotel Chocolat Group plc 2022 Restricted Stock Plan. None of the options exercised under these plans were held by PDMRs.

The exercises of options under all the Company's share plans were effective upon sanction of the Scheme of Arrangement, pursuant to which all the Ordinary Shares in issue and to be issued are to be acquired by Hive Bidco, Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mars Incorporated. The Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to these option exercises will be acquired for cash under the terms of the Scheme.

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

 
      Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities 
  1    / person closely associated 
 a)   Name                        1. Jonathan Akehurst 
                                   2. Peter Harris 
                                   3. Angus Thirlwell 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
      Reason for the notification 
  2 
     ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 a)   Position/status             1. Chief Financial Officer 
                                   2. Development Director and Co-founder 
                                   3. Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 b)   Initial notification        Initial Notification 
       /Amendment 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
      Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, 
  3    auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor 
     ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 a)   Name                        Hotel Chocolat Group plc 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 b)   LEI                         213800B4D3J15PZHVY29 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
      Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated 
  4    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,        Options over Ordinary shares of 0.1 
       type of instrument           pence each 
 
       Identification code          ISIN: GB00BYZC3B04 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 b)   Nature of the transaction   Exercise of options pursuant to the 
                                   Hotel Chocolat Group plc 2016 Long 
                                   Term Incentive Plan 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 c)   Price(s) and volume(s)       Name               Price(s)     Volume(s) 
                                    Jonathan 
                                     Akehurst          0.1 pence    416,667 
                                                      -----------  ---------- 
                                    Peter Harris       0.1 pence    166,667 
                                                      -----------  ---------- 
                                    Angus Thirlwell    0.1 pence    525,000 
                                                      -----------  ---------- 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 d)   Aggregated information 
                                    N/A 
 
       - Aggregated volume 
       - Price 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 e)   Date of the transaction     23 January 2024 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 f)   Place of the transaction    Outside a trading venue 
     --------------------------  -------------------------------------------- 
 

Enquiries

 
 Bidco and Mars 
  Fabiano Lima, Global VP of Corporate Affairs, 
  Mars Snacking 
  Denise Young, Global VP of Corporate Communications,    +1 (312) 794 
  Mars                                                     6200 
 Morgan Stanley (Financial Adviser to Bidco 
  and Mars) 
  Laurence Hopkins 
  Imran Ansari 
  Mae Wang                                                +44 (0)20 7425 
  Stuart Wright                                            8000 
 Brunswick (Public Relations Adviser to Bidco 
  and Mars) 
  Max McGahan 
  Rosie Oddy                                              +44 (0)20 7404 
  James Baker                                              5959 
 Hotel Chocolat 
  Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder and CEO                     +44 (0)1763 
  Jonathan Akehurst, Chief Financial Officer               257 746 
 Lazard (Lead Financial Adviser and Rule 3 
  Adviser to Hotel Chocolat) 
  William Lawes 
  Davin Staats 
  Fariza Steel                                            +44 (0)20 7187 
  Adam Blin                                                2000 
 Liberum (Co-Financial Adviser, Nominated 
  Adviser and Corporate Broker to Hotel Chocolat) 
  Dru Danford 
  Tim Medak 
  Ed Thomas                                               +44 (0)20 3100 
  Matt Hogg                                                2000 
 Citigate Dewe Rogerson (Financial Communications 
  Adviser to Hotel Chocolat) 
  Angharad Couch 
  Ellen Wilton                                            +44 (0)20 7638 
  Alex Winch                                               9571 
 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is acting as legal adviser to Bidco and Mars in connection with the Acquisition. Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is acting as legal adviser to Hotel Chocolat in connection with the Acquisition.

Important notices

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute, or form part of, an offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to the Acquisition or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities of Hotel Chocolat in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The Acquisition will be implemented solely pursuant to the terms of the Scheme Document (or, if the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Takeover Offer, the offer document), which will contain the full terms and conditions of the Acquisition, including details of how to vote in respect of the Acquisition. Any vote in respect of the Scheme or other response in relation to the Acquisition should be made only on the basis of the information contained in the Scheme Document (or, if the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Takeover Offer, the offer document).

This announcement does not constitute a prospectus, prospectus equivalent document or exempted document.

If you are in any doubt about the contents of this announcement or the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own independent financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or independent financial adviser duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended) if you are resident in the United Kingdom or, if not, from another appropriately authorised independent financial adviser.

Notices related to financial advisers

Morgan Stanley, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Bidco and Mars and no one else in connection with the matters contained in this announcement and Morgan Stanley, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents will not regard any other person as their client, nor will they be responsible to anyone other than Bidco and Mars for providing the protections afforded to clients of Morgan Stanley nor for providing advice in connection with the matters contained in this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

Lazard & Co., Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"), is acting exclusively as lead financial adviser and Rule 3 adviser to Hotel Chocolat and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Hotel Chocolat for providing the protections afforded to clients of Lazard nor for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any other matter or arrangement referred to herein. Neither Lazard nor any of its affiliates (nor their respective directors, officers, employees or agents) owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Lazard in connection with this announcement, any matter, arrangement or statement contained or referred to herein or otherwise.

Liberum, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for Hotel Chocolat and for no one else in connection with the subject matter of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Hotel Chocolat for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this announcement. Neither Liberum nor any of its affiliates (nor their respective directors, officers, employees or agents) owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Liberum in connection with the Acquisition, this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Liberum as to the contents of this announcement.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

DSHSEFEFDELSEDF

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2024 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)

Hotel Chocolat (LSE:HOTC)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 12월(12) 2024 으로 12월(12) 2024 Hotel Chocolat 차트를 더 보려면 여기를 클릭.
Hotel Chocolat (LSE:HOTC)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 12월(12) 2023 으로 12월(12) 2024 Hotel Chocolat 차트를 더 보려면 여기를 클릭.