EMI shares

Hi,

I was awarded two rounds of EMI shares. The company is now being sold at a really low value ($0.19 per share) and I am being told either the shares woth nothing as the value is so low and preference shareholders need to be paid first leaving nothing left for EMI shares or if they are vested I will end up paying more tax than they are worth.

EMI option 1
Grant date - Dec 2014
10,000 ordinary shares - vested 25% on the first anniversay, 1/36th at the end of each calendar month there after.
Exercise Price: £0.10 per share

EMI option 2
Grant date - Jul 2016
9,770 ordinary shares - vested 25% on the first anniversary, 1/36th at the end of each calendar month there after.
Exercise Price: $2.10 per share

The information I have been given is only obtained when I press for it and nothing has been in writing.

I have also been placed at risk of redundancy to complicate the matter.

Any advice on if I should be receiving something for these shares?

Comments

  • You say you've been awarded the shares, but the two items in your list are share options rather than the shares themselves - that is, an option to buy the shares for the exercise price, which is usually lower than the market price at the time the option is awarded - £0.10 for the first option, $2.10 for the second. Have you exercised either of these options - ie bought the shares for the option price? If you haven't, then you aren't due anything, and the options may or may be exchanged for share options in the company taking over.

    If you have exercised the options, then you'd be entitled to $0.19 for each share you bought. I don't understand the reference to preference shareholders, as that would be irrelevant in a takeover. The significance of preference shares is that they have a preferential right to dividends, and a greater call on the assets in the event of the company being in administration. I'm not sure what you mean by "leaving nothing left for EMI shares" - if the company is being sold for $0.19 per share, then the total price is $0.19 multiplied by the number of shares - it's not a question of anything being left from a fixed pot.
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