Emmis sent out an email on Monday that explained their 2012 Stock Retention Plan and how they were about to fatten the pockets of their employees that stuck it out with them during an economic decline that affected the entire country. You can read the full email below.
For some of you, this will be wonderful, long-awaited email; for others, it will be like the holiday package you forgot to open and find, still wrapped, months after.
Two years ago, Emmis announced the creation of the 2012 Employee Retention Plan and Trust. We funded the Plan with 400,000 shares of preferred stock that are convertible into about 976,000 share of Emmis common stock, and said that each full-time Emmis employee on April 2, 2012 who stayed with the company through April 2, 2014, would receive a portion of the stock in the Plan based on their annual salary. To ensure a broad-based distribution, the Plan excluded executive officers and capped the level of salary credit at $50,000. Last week, our Board of Directors authorized the conversion of the preferred stock into common stock. This means participants will receive common stock instead of preferred, as we said might happen when we first announced the plan.
Why was the Plan created?
It is no secret that the Plan helped Emmis to address issues with the preferred stock. You’ve probably read about that in the Trades. However, our Board also created the Plan to recognize your contributions and sacrifices since the recession, and to reward those of you who continued to stay with the company as the economy got better.
Here is the important news promised in the subject line: it is almost time to open your package!
The end of that two-year waiting period is quickly approaching, and you are one of the roughly 75% of full-time Emmis employees who have remained with the company and will receive your piece of the Emmis pie in the form of a stock award. You can choose to keep the stock, or sell it – the choice is yours.
How much stock will you receive? Your manager has information to share with you on the approximate number of shares you’ll be awarded and the current market value of your reward. The final share allocation to all remaining Plan participants won’t be done until right after April 1st (no fooling!) and will be deposited into your Merrill Lynch account within a few business days thereafter.
To give you a sense for the number of shares being awarded through the Plan, below are a few examples, using the current number of eligible Plan participants and the closing price of our common stock last Wednesday, March 5th ($3.33):
· Employee with $30,000/yr salary gets 1,105 shares; current market value of $3,679
· $40,000/yr salary gets 1,480 shares; market value of $4,927
· $50,000+/yr salary gets 1,841 shares; market value of $6,132
These are estimates, subject to stock market fluctuations and share withholding for taxes.
Within the next couple of weeks you will receive an email from HR Help that includes additional details, including information about how to access your Merrill Lynch account and how to sell your shares if you choose.
We hope you are pleased with this long-awaited award. Emmis prides itself on valuing its employees’ dedication and commitment – – and our stellar performance over the past few years shows the difference that extraordinarily talented and dedicated employees can make. This is a token of our appreciation and reward for your efforts over the last several years.
