Barita activates ESOP
Stockbrokerage and investment company barita investments has activated its billion-dollar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) with the purchase of a huge block of shares for the staff incentive programme.
Last week Barita purchased 10 million shares, which at current market price of $100.49 per share are worth just over $1 billion. The acquisition of the shares was, however, conducted at a price of $101.97. It will facilitate the grant of share options to Barita’s team members.
The staff incentive plan is being executed as a means of motivating staff, given the two successful capital raise by the company in the past year, as well as the stellar financial performance, particularly in the past two years. Barita had gone to the local capital market with two successful additional public offers (APOS), which raked in $13.5 billion in the first one and $10.78 billion in subscriptions in the second.
Barita advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) that the 100 million shares were purchased on September 30, 2021 — nine days after its second successful APO. This disclosure of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan was made by Barita in a regulatory filing with the JSE, where its shares are traded.
Last week Barita advised the JSE that it was implementing a stock ownership plan for employees. This announcement came mere days after it successfully closed its second APO on the scheduled date of Tuesday, September 21.
The proceeds of the capital raise will be used for deployment in Barita’s growing investment pipeline in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. Barita Investments recently approved the stock ownership plan for employees.
Shares acquired pursuant to the plan will be held in an employee share trust, which will be governed by a trust deed. Under the terms of the plan, eligible employees will be given the opportunity to purchase Barita shares at a discount from time to time, in accordance with the rules of the plan and the trust deed.
A stock ownership plan is a kind of employee benefit plan, similar in some ways to a profit-sharing plan.
In a stock ownership plan, a company sets up a trust fund into which it contributes new shares of its own stock or cash to buy existing shares, which gives workers ownership