Rovio Entertainment Corporation Stock Exchange Release Jan 24, 2020 10.05 a.m. EET
Rovio Entertainment Corp. Rovio establishes an employee share savings program
The Board of Directors of Rovio Entertainment Corporation decided to establish an employee share savings plan (ESS plan).
The objective of the ESS Plan is to motivate employees to invest in Rovio shares by offering them additional shares in relation to their investment after a designated holding period.
“Our employees are the cornerstone of our business. Through ESS plan we want to offer them an opportunity to become shareholders of Rovio with preferred conditions and thereby strengthen the alignment of our employees’ interests with the interests of Rovio and our shareholders”, says Kati Levoranta, CEO of Rovio.
The ESS Plan consists of annually commencing plan periods, each one consisting of a 12-month savings period and a holding period following the savings period. The ESS plan is offered to approximately 460 Rovio employees, excluding employees in China, United States, United Kingdom and Hatch Entertainment Ltd.
The employees will have an opportunity to save a proportion of their salaries and invest those savings in Rovio shares. The savings will be used for acquiring Rovio shares quarterly after the publication dates of the respective interim reports. Dividends paid for the shares will be reinvested in additional shares to be purchased from the market on the next potential acquisition date. As a reward for the commitment, Rovio grants the participating employees one free matching share (gross) for every two savings shares acquired with their savings, including the proportion to be paid in cash to cover applicable taxes and tax-related costs. The prerequisites for receiving the matching shares are continued employment and holding of savings shares until the end of the holding period. In the first plan period, the savings shares and the matching shares will be acquired by purchasing shares from the market.
Participation in the ESS plan is voluntary and the employees will be invited to participate in one plan period at a time. The first plan period commences on April 1, 2020 and ends on August 31, 2022. The holding period of the first plan period ends on August 31, 2022, after which matching shares will be paid out as soon as practicably possible. The total amount of all savings during the plan period may not exceed 2,100,000 euros. The Board of Directors will decide on potential following plan periods and their details separately.
ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
The Board of Directors
Further information:
Kati Levoranta, CEO, tel. +358 207 888 300
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Key media
www.rovio.com
About Rovio:
Rovio Entertainment Corporation is a global, games-first entertainment company that creates, develops and publishes mobile games, which have been downloaded 4.5 billion times so far. Rovio is best known for the global Angry Birds brand, which started as a popular mobile game in 2009, and has since evolved from games to various entertainment and consumer products in brand licensing. Today, Rovio offers multiple mobile games, animations and has produced The Angry Birds Movie, which opened number one in theatres in 50 countries. Its sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2, released worldwide in August 2019. Rovio is headquartered in Finland and the company's shares are listed on the main list of Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange with the trading code ROVIO. (www.rovio.com)