29 Dec 2023 10:00
29 December 2023
Ascential plc ("the Company")
Notification of transactions of persons discharging managerial responsibility
Grant of Awards under the Company's Performance Share Plan
On 28 December 2023 the following Person Discharging Managerial Responsibilities ("PDMR") was granted a conditional award over ordinary shares of 1p each under the Ascential plc Executive Performance Share Plan (the "PSP") as noted below:
PDMR | Number of shares over which awards granted under PSP |
Mandy Gradden, Director | 74,349 |
Subject to the terms of the PSP, the award will ordinarily vest on the third anniversary of the grant of the award subject to the grantee's accepting the terms of the awards, their continued service, and to the extent performance conditions are met.
Additionally, an award equivalent to 200% of base salary has been granted to Philip Thomas ahead of his becoming Chief Executive of the Company upon completion of the Digital Commerce Sale. The award to Philip Thomas is subject to financial and strategic performance criteria with the award being his sole long-term incentive award granted in 2023. The award to Mandy Gradden is subject to the same strategic performance criteria as those included in the award granted to Philip Thomas and supplements the award she received on 24 February 2023 which included financial performance criteria.
The awards will result in both Philip Thomas and Mandy Gradden having the same incentive structures in operation for the period of FY 2023 through to the conclusion of FY 2025. The awards, and the timing of them, reflect the exceptional circumstances throughout 2023 at Ascential plc and align both individuals with Ascential's ongoing strategy post the disposals of the Company's Digital Commerce business and its Product Design business for which shareholder approval was received on 18 December 2023. The awards are consistent with the Company's shareholder-approved Remuneration Policy and full details of the awards will be included in the 2023 Directors' Remuneration Report.
1
| Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
| |||||||||
a)
| Name
| Mandy Gradden | ||||||||
2
| Reason for the notification
| |||||||||
a)
| Position/status
| Director | ||||||||
b)
| Initial notification /Amendment
| Initial notification | ||||||||
3
| Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
| |||||||||
a)
| Name
| Ascential plc | ||||||||
b)
| LEI
| 213800VDXQDA7KD2IQ21 | ||||||||
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 1p
| ||||||||
Identification code | BYM8GJ0 | |||||||||
b)
| Nature of the transaction
| Grant of conditional award under the Company's Performance Share Plan ("PSP") | ||||||||
c)
| Price(s) and volume(s) | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
d)
| Aggregated information | |||||||||
- Aggregated volume | n/a - single transaction | |||||||||
- Price | Nil | |||||||||
e)
| Date of the transaction
| 28 December 2023 | ||||||||
f)
| Place of the transaction
| London | ||||||||
Contacts
Louise Meads, Company Secretary
+44 (0) 7701 313 875
Ascential (ASCL)