Grant of share options

27 Jul 2006 14:47

IQE PLC27 July 2006 IQE plc Immediate release IQE plc (the ''Company'' or ''IQE'') Grant of share options IQE, the leading global outsource supplier of customised wafer products andoutsource wafer services to the semiconductor industry, is pleased to announcethe grant of options to each of the executive directors of the Company (the "Executive Directors") over ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company. Thisfollows the Company's announcement on the 20 July 2006 that it has conditionallyagreed to acquire the Electronic Materials Division (''EMD''), the US epifoundry business from EMCORE Corporation Inc. (NASDAQ listed: EMKR)(''EMCORE''). To finance the consideration and ongoing working capital for IQE,Noble & Company Limited (the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker) hasconditionally placed 87.5 million IQE shares at 13.75p per share to raiseapproximately £12 million (before expenses) (the ''Placing''). The Placing isconditional upon, inter alia, the passing of a shareholder resolution at anextraordinary general meeting (''EGM'') to be held on 15 August 2006. In recognition of the directors' contributions to the business over the lastfour years, including bringing the Company back to EBITDA breakeven, takingsubstantial reductions in pay and negotiating the acquisition of EMD fromEMCORE, on 14 July 2006 the Company granted further options under its shareoption scheme (completely contained within the existing share option schemelimits) as follows:- Name Number of Exercise price Exercise date options Dr A W Nelson 5,000,000 13.75p per As to 1,666,667 shares on the first anniversary of share the Placing As to 1,666,667 shares on the second anniversary of the Placing As to 1,666,666 on the third anniversary of the Placing Mr S A Hall 1,500,000 13.75p per As to 500,000 shares on each of the first, second share and third anniversaries of the Placing Mr H R Williams 1,500,000 13.75p per As to 500,000 shares on each of the first, second share and third anniversaries of the Placing These options are subject to strong earnings per share (EPS) performancecriteria.Contacts IQE plc +44(0) 29 2083 9400Dr Drew Nelson, President & CEOStuart Hall, CFOChris Meadows, Investor Relations Noble & Company Limited +44(0) 20 7763 2200John Llewellyn-LloydGraeme Bayley This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange