GOFORE PLC COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 AT 14:35 EET
Gofore Plc launches employee share savings plan
The Board of Directors of Gofore Plc has resolved to launch the share savings plan (“Plan”) to be offered to all of the Gofore Group employees. The objective of the Plan is to motivate the Gofore employees to invest in the company’s shares and to become shareholders in the company. The aim is also to align the interests and commitment of the employees and management to work for the good value development and increased shareholder value in the long-term.
“Employees come first at Gofore. From an ownership point of view, the employee share savings plan continues our intrinsic tradition of employee involvement”, says CEO Timur Kärki.
The Plan is offered to all approximately 500 Gofore Group employees, who will be offered an opportunity to save a proportion of their regular salaries (EUR 50-400 per month) and use the savings for the acquisition of the company’s shares at a 10 per cent discount. The accrued savings will be used for the acquisition of the Gofore shares after the end of the plan period. Participation in the Plan is voluntary, and an employee will participate in the Plan for one plan period at a time. The first plan period will commence on 1 November 2018 and end on 28 February 2019.
After the holding period of two years, Gofore will grant the employees participating in the Plan, as a gross reward, one free matching share against every three shares acquired with savings. The prerequisites for receiving matching shares are that a participant holds the acquired shares for the entire holding period, and that his or her employment at Gofore has not terminated before the end of the holding period. The holding period will end on 28 February, 2021.
Any dividends to be paid on shares acquired with savings will automatically be reinvested into acquisition of shares on the next potential acquisition date.
Matching shares will be paid partly in the company’s shares and partly in cash as soon as possible after the end of the holding period. The cash proportion is intended to cover taxes and tax-related costs arising from the matching shares to a participant. The matching shares are freely transferable after their transfer on the participant’s book-entry account.
The intention is that the company will resolve on a share issue to subscribe for the new shares to be acquired with the accumulated savings at a 10% discount. The intention is that the company will resolve on the share issue after the end of the plan period.
The Board of Directors will resolve on the following plan period and its details separately.
Further enquiries:
Ali U. Saadetdin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gofore Plc
tel. +358 40 844 4201
ali.saadetdin@saadetdin.com
Timur Kärki, CEO, Gofore Plc
tel. +358 40 828 5886
timur.karki@gofore.com
Certified Adviser: Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 40 579 6210
Gofore Plc is a digitalisation specialist operating since 2002. We offer modern services that help operators in the private and public sectors to move with the times. Our mission is to change the world for the better through digitalisation and by renewing the ways of working. Our services cover the entire value chain – from management consultation to service design and implementation as well as cloud services. Gofore currently employs over 470 people in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku, Swansea, Munich and Madrid. Gofore was chosen as the best workplace in Finland and the second-best workplace in Europe in the Great Place to Work® 2017 survey. In 2017, our net sales were EUR 34 million. Gofore Plc’s shares are quoted in the First North Finland market administered by Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. More information is available at www.gofore.com.