Capital structure
As of 31 December 2015 the registered capital of the Company amounts to
€ 176 957 000, and is represented by 60 125 525 shares without par value. The shares are in registered or dematerialized form.
Authorized capital
The Board of Directors has been authorized by the General Meeting of Shareholders held on 9 May 2012 to increase the Company's registered capital in one or more times by an aggregate maximum amount of
€ 176 000 000 (before any issue premium). The authority is valid for five years from 5 June 2012 and can be renewed in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions. Pursuant to this authorization, the Board of Directors may, among others, effect a capital increase under the authorized capital by means of issuing ordinary shares, subscription rights or convertible bonds and may limit or disapply the preferential subscription right of the Company's shareholders. Furthermore, the Board of Directors has been authorized, for a period of three years from 26 June 2014, to make use of the authorized capital upon receipt by the Company of a notice from the FSMA of a public takeover bid for the Company’s securities.
Convertible Bonds
The Board of Directors has made use of its powers under the authorized capital when it on 21 May 2014 resolved to issue senior unsecured convertible bonds due 18 June 2018 for an aggregate amount of approximately
€ 300 000 000. These convertible bonds carry a coupon of 0.75% per annum and their conversion price amounts to € 37.06 per share.
In connection with the issuance of the convertible bonds, the Board of Directors resolved to disapply the preference subscription right of existing shareholders set forth in Articles 596 and following of the Companies Code. The terms of the convertible bonds allow the Company, upon the conversion of the bonds, to either deliver new shares or existing shares or pay a cash alternative amount.
In order to mitigate dilution for existing shareholders upon conversion of the convertible bonds, the Board of Directors intends where possible, to repay the principal amount of the convertible bonds in cash and, if the then prevailing share price is above the conversion price, pay the upside in existing shares of the Company. The Board of Directors has initiated a share buy-back program in order to purchase shares, in a number which may or may not equal the maximum number of existing shares which could be required in order to pay the difference between the conversion price and the prevailing share price upon conversion of the bonds. The conversion of the convertible bonds would then have no dilutive effect for existing shareholders.
Furthermore, the terms of the convertible bonds allow the Company to redeem the bonds at their principal amount together with accrued interest in certain circumstances, for example if the Company’s shares trade at a price higher than 130% of the conversion price during a certain period after 9 July 2016.
Stock option plans and performance share plan
The total number of outstanding subscription rights under the SOP1 and SOP2005-2009 stock option plans and convertible into Bekaert shares is
456 486.
A total of 14 120 subscription rights were exercised in 2015 under the SOP1 and SOP2005-2009 employee stock option plans, resulting in the issue of
14 120 new Company shares, and an increase of the registered capital by € 43 000 and of the share premium by € 191 638.
A total of 26 300 stock options were exercised in 2015 under the SOP2010-2014 stock option plan and 26 300 treasury shares were used for that purpose. In the course of 2015 the Company did not cancel or purchase treasury shares. As a result, the Company held an aggregate
4 248 710 treasury shares as of 31 December 2015.
The fifth and last regular grant of options under the SOP2010-2014 plan took place on 16 February 2015, when
349 810 options were granted. Each such option will be convertible into one existing Company share at an exercise price of
€ 26.055. An aggregate of
1 899 185 options have been granted under the SOP2010-2014 stock option plan.
Two new long term incentive plans were proposed by the Board and approved by a Special General Meeting in 2015:
- Share Option Plan 2015-2017 (“SOP2015-2017”):
The plan will offer options to acquire existing Company shares to the members of the BGE, the senior management and a limited number of management employees of the Company and a number of its subsidiaries. There will be one offer of share options in each of the years 2015 through 2017, and the aggregate number of share options to be offered will be determined each year by the Board of Directors on the motion of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. The number of share options to be offered to each individual beneficiary will be variable in part, based on an assessment of such person’s long term contribution to the success of the Company. The share options will be offered to the beneficiaries for free. Each accepted share option will entitle its holder to acquire one existing share of the Company against payment of the exercise price, which will be conclusively determined at the time of the offer and which will be equal to the lower of: (i) the average closing price of the Company shares during the thirty days preceding the date of the offer, and (ii) the last closing price preceding the date of the offer. The share options cannot be exercised during a period of three calendar years after the year in which the offer has occurred, nor after a period of ten years as from the date of their offer. A first offer of 232 750 options was made on 17 December 2015.
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Performance Share Plan 2015-2017:
The plan will offer rights with respect to Company shares to the members of the BGE, the senior management and a limited number of management staff members of the Company and a number of its subsidiaries (the rights, "performance share units" and the shares, "performance shares"). Each performance share unit entitles the beneficiary to acquire one performance share subject to the conditions of the Performance Share Plan 2015-2017. These performance share units will vest following a vesting period of three years, conditional to the achievement of a pre-set performance target. The performance target will be set annually by the Board of Directors, in line with the Company strategy. The precise vesting level of the performance share units will depend upon the actual achievement level of the vesting criterion, with no vesting at all if the actual performance is below the defined minimum threshold. Upon achievement of said threshold, there will be a minimum vesting of 50% of the granted performance share units; full achievement of the agreed vesting criterion will lead to a par vesting of 100% of the granted performance share units, whereas there will be a maximum vesting of 300% of the granted performance share units if the actual performance is at or above an agreed ceiling level. In between these levels, the vesting will be proportionate. It is proposed that, upon vesting, the beneficiaries will also receive the value of the dividends relating to the previous three years with respect to such (amount of) performance shares to which the effectively vested performance share units relate. There will be one performance share unit grant in each of the years 2015 through 2017, and the aggregate number of performance share units to be offered will be determined each year by the Board of Directors on the motion of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. The performance shares will be offered to the beneficiaries for free. A first grant of 50 850 performance share units was made on 17 December 2015.
The SOP2015-2017 plan and its predecessor SOP plans comply with the relevant provisions of the Act of 26 March 1999 and with Articles 520ter and 525, last paragraph, of the Companies Code.
Detailed information about capital, shares and stock option plans is given in the Financial Review (Note 6.12 to the consolidated financial statements).