AFRICAN EAGLE TO REVOKE AND RE-ISSUE
EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE OPTIONS
African Eagle announces that it has offered all its employees and
directors holding share options under the Company's Share Option
Plan, the opportunity to exchange their existing share options for a
smaller number of new share options at a lower exercise price.
African Eagle's Chairman, John Park comments, "All our outstanding
share options have become so far "out of the money" due to the impact
on African Eagle's share price of the turbulent conditions in the
world economy and financial markets over the past 12 months, that
their value to motivate our staff has become questionable. To
re-instate incentive and to recognise the hard work and commitment
our teams have shown during these difficult times, the Board has
decided to offer all staff holding share options the opportunity to
exchange their existing share options for new share options with a
lower exercise price.
"Because we were mindful of how this change might be viewed by our
shareholders we propose to issue some 36% fewer new share options
than the outstanding options they will replace, and we will set the
exercise price approximately 50% higher than the share price at the
time of the award."
A total of 11,500,000 new share options are now being offered to
employees in exchange for 17,850,000 share options currently
outstanding. If all share option holders accept the change, the
total number of new share options outstanding will be equivalent to
5.81% of the Company's shares in issue (currently 8.8%). The award
date is May 14, 2009 and the exercise price of the new share options
is 6.5p. The exercise price is determined as the average mid market
closing price over the five trading days prior to the award date,
plus 50%, rounded to the nearest 0.5p. The new share options will be
exercisable from the first anniversary of the award date and will
remain exercisable until the fifth anniversary of the award date.
Directors' existing share options and new share options are as
follows:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Director | Awarded | Awarded | Awarded 23 Jun | Awarded | TOTAL |New Award| % of |
| |16 Jul 04|28 Jul 05| 06 (12.25p) |25 Oct 07| | (6.5p) |previous|
| | (17.5p) | (18p) | | (15p) | | |holding |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
| John Park | 200,000 | 300,000 | 350,000 | 850,000 |1,700,000|1,095,000| 64.4% |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
| Mark Parker | 250,000 | 375,000 | 375,000 | 875,000 |1,875,000|1,208,000| 64.4% |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
| Christopher | 250,000 | 375,000 | 375,000 | 875,000 |1,875,000|1,208,000| 64.4% |
| Davies | | | | | | | |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
| Euan | 150,000 | 225,000 | 250,000 | 800,000 |1,425,000| 918,000 | 64.4% |
| Worthington | | | | | | | |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
|Bevan Metcalf| 100,000 | 300,000 | 350,000 | 850,000 |1,600,000|1,031,000| 64.4% |
|-------------+---------+---------+----------------+---------+---------+---------+--------|
| Geoffrey | 150,000 | 225,000 | 250,000 | 750,000 |1,375,000| 886,000 | 64.4% |
| Cooper | | | | | | | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
For further information contact:
Mark Parker
Managing Director
African Eagle
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited, London
Nominated Adviser
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Charmane Russell
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+27 11 8803924
+27 82 8928052
Ed Portman / Leesa Peters
Conduit PR, London
+44 20 7429 6607
+44 77 3336 3501
About the Company Share Option Scheme
The Scheme was introduced in 2001 and revised in June 2006. Options
can be exercised only between one and five years from date of grant.
Under the revised rules, options normally lapse if an employee leaves
the Company by choice or is dismissed.
The aggregate number of shares subject to options granted under the
Scheme or any other scheme cannot exceed 10% of the ordinary share
capital of the Company.
About African Eagle
African Eagle is a diversified mineral exploration and development
company operating in eastern and central Africa. The Company's
principal advanced projects are the Mkushi Copper Mines project in
Zambia, for which a draft Feasibility Study was completed in Q4 2008,
and the Dutwa nickel laterite discovery in Tanzania, where the
Company announced a significant resource at the end of 2008.
African Eagle has also defined a gold resource estimated at half a
million ounces at the Miyabi gold project in Tanzania, and is
evaluating a second promising nickel laterite deposit which it
recently discovered in Tanzania. The Company holds a well-balanced
portfolio of promising earlier stage gold and base metal projects,
including the Ndola and Mokambo projects in the Zambian Copperbelt.
Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, the sites of African Eagle's
projects, are all countries which have highly prospective geology,
relatively low above-ground risks and track records of successful
major investments in the metals and minerals industries.
African Eagle specialises in project generation and exploration. To
take its discoveries into production, it seeks to sign up industry
partners with records of successful mine development. These joint
ventures and, in time, the revenue from advanced projects, will
finance future exploration and new discoveries.
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