25 Sep 2019 07:00
25 September 2019
Hotel Chocolat Group plc
("Hotel Chocolat", the "Company" or the "Group")
Director/PDMR Dealing and Total Voting Rights
The Company announces today that it has issued 2,318,650 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") pursuant to the exercise of share options by certain employees, including certain Directors and persons discharging managerial responsibility. The options were issued under the Company's Long-Term Incentive Plan and have been exercised at an exercise price of 148p each. The exercise of the above share options has been satisfied by the Company's block listing arrangements.
Following the exercise of the share options, certain employees, including certain Directors and persons discharging managerial responsibility, have sold 1,971,330 Ordinary shares.
The details of the exercise of options and the sale of Ordinary Shares by certain Directors are set out below:
Initial Holding | Resultant Holding | |||||
Director | Number of Ordinary Shares | Percentage of issued share capital | Options exercised | Ordinary shares sold | Number of Ordinary Shares | Percentage of issued share capital |
Matthew Pritchard | 26,392 | 0.02% | 779,730 | 701,125 | 104,997 | 0.09% |
Matthew Margereson | 0 | 0.00% | 779,730 | 526,165 | 253,565 | 0.22% |
The notification below, made in accordance with the requirements of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, provides further detail.
Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them
1
| Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
| |||||||
a)
| Name
| 1. Matthew Robert Phillip Pritchard 2. Matthew Paul Margereson | ||||||
2
| Reason for the notification
| |||||||
a)
| Position/status
| 1. Chief Financial Officer 2. Chief Operating Officer | ||||||
b)
| Initial notification /Amendment
| Initial Notification | ||||||
3
| Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
| |||||||
a)
| Name
| Hotel Chocolat Group plc | ||||||
b)
| LEI
| 213800B4D3J15PZHVY29
| ||||||
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
Identification code
|
Ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each
ISIN: GB00BYZC3B04 | ||||||
b)
| Nature of the transaction
| Exercise of options | ||||||
c)
| Price(s) and volume(s)
|
| ||||||
d)
| Aggregated information
- Aggregated volume - Price |
n/a (single transaction)
| ||||||
e)
| Date of the transaction
| 24 September 2019 | ||||||
f)
| Place of the transaction
| Outside a trading venue | ||||||
1
| Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
| |||||||
a)
| Name
| 1. Matthew Robert Phillip Pritchard 2. Matthew Paul Margereson | ||||||
2
| Reason for the notification
| |||||||
a)
| Position/status
| 1. Chief Financial Officer 2. Chief Operating Officer | ||||||
b)
| Initial notification /Amendment
| Initial Notification | ||||||
3
| Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
| |||||||
a)
| Name
| Hotel Chocolat Group plc | ||||||
b)
| LEI
| 213800B4D3J15PZHVY29 | ||||||
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
Identification code
|
Ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each
ISIN: GB00BYZC3B04 | ||||||
b)
| Nature of the transaction
| Sale of shares | ||||||
c)
| Price(s) and volume(s)
|
| ||||||
d)
| Aggregated information
- Aggregated volume - Price |
n/a (single transaction)
| ||||||
e)
| Date of the transaction
| 24 September 2019 | ||||||
f)
| Place of the transaction
| London Stock Exchange, AIM | ||||||
For further information:
| |
Hotel Chocolat Group plc Angus Thirlwell, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Peter Harris, Co-founder and Development Director Matt Pritchard, Chief Financial Officer
| c/o Citigate + 44 (0) 20 7638 9571 |
Citigate Dewe Rogerson - Financial PR Angharad Couch Ellen Wilton Elizabeth Kittle
| + 44 (0) 20 7638 9571 |
Liberum Capital Limited - Nominated Advisor and Broker Clayton Bush James Greenwood William Hall
| + 44 (0) 20 3100 2222 |
Notes to Editors:
Hotel Chocolat is a premium British chocolatier with a strong and distinctive brand. The business was founded in 1993 by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris and has traded under the Hotel Chocolat brand since 2003. The Group sells its products online and through a network of stores in the UK and abroad. The Group has a cocoa plantation and eco-hotel in Saint Lucia, offering complete cocoa immersion thorough tree-to-bar experiences and wellness treatments. The Group also has a flagship restaurant and cocoa roastery in London's Borough Market: Rabot 1745. The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in 2016.