27/03/19

XTPL to Invest in Key Employees

The nanotechnology company is to propose to shareholders to adopt a new incentive program for employees. It will be founded upon share options which employees will be able to acquire at the current market price during the duration of the program. Modeled on the incentive plans operated by companies from Silicon Valley, the solution creates a link between remuneration for key staff and growth in the company’s value.

– It is people that are key to XTPL’s global development and success. A well-thought and effectively implemented incentive program will allow us to acquire and maintain the most talented specialists not only in Poland, but also in the United States. We are on the threshold of a key phase – conducting negotiations about commercialization and expanding our structures in Silicon Valley. For companies such as ours, a plan in which key staff members participate in the company’s future financial success is both a fuel and a prerequisite for even faster growth. And this is without increasing current expenses – says Filip Granek, PhD, CEO and co-founder of XTPL.

At the upcoming EGMS, shareholders are to vote on a package of resolutions forming a new employee incentive program. It will cover key employees of XTPL S.A. and XTPL Inc., and will be effective until 2021.

It will be based on warrants (share options) for maximum 10% of the company’s share capital. The purchase price of the shares offered to the program’s beneficiaries will be set at the level of the market value of XTPL at the time of approval of the program. The warrants’ underlying stock will be issued gradually in the years 2020–2029.

– In the United States, employee stock ownership is the most popular method of building incentive programs. Last year, there were more than 7,000 incentive programs in the US economy, covering over 14 million employees and involving more than USD 1.3 trillion worth of assets. Such a scheme brings tangible benefits to shareholders: according to statistics, companies which have an incentive program in place based on warrants or stocks grow at a rate several percent faster than the rest of the market. This is also one of the main reasons why key employees choose young technology companies rather than mature corporations – says Maciej Adamczyk, management board member and COO at XTPL.

The entitlement to the new XTPL incentive program will be vested annually. The program will also use shares from the previous incentive scheme and – to a small extent (approx. 2% of the share capital) – the issue of series P shares (to supplement the stock pool due to the increase in the number of program participants). As a result, the program will bring maximum benefits in terms of building the value of XTPL, while not causing any noticeable equity dilution for the existing shareholders.