Dollar General's BOD approves acceleration of stock option vesting
30 Jan '06
3 min read
Basic goods discount retailer Dollar General Corporation informed that its Board of Directors has approved the accelerated vesting, effective February 3, 2006, of all outstanding unvested stock options awarded to employees prior to August 2, 2005 pursuant to the company's equity plans.
Additionally, outstanding unvested stock options awarded to employees on or after August 2, 2005 but prior to January 24, 2006 will vest on an accelerated basis six months after the applicable grant date of the option.
The provisions for accelerated vesting exclude all option grants previously awarded to David Perdue, the company's Chairman and CEO, and all grants awarded during the company's fiscal year ending February 3, 2006 to any company officer at the level of Executive Vice President or higher. Except for the accelerated vesting, all other material terms and conditions of the previously granted awards remain unchanged.
As a result of this acceleration, the company expects options to purchase approximately 6.4 million shares of common stock, with a range of exercise prices between $10.68 and $23.90 and a weighted average exercise price per share of $19.23 to become exercisable effective February 3, 2006. Options to purchase approximately 138,000 shares of common stock, with a range of exercise prices between $18.74 and $19.06 are expected to become exercisable on dates ranging between February 22, 2006 and May 17, 2006.
While this acceleration benefits employees, the decision was made primarily to reduce future non-cash compensation expense that would have been recorded following the company's adoption in its first quarter of fiscal 2006, beginning February 4, 2006, of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123R "Share-Based Payment" ("SFAS No. 123R").