AXA has announced the launch of its annual employee share offering, “Shareplan 2024”, as part of a capital increase reserved for its employees.
The offering will be available to more than 110,000 employees across 40 countries, including those in and outside of France.
Under Shareplan 2024, employees in most countries will have the option to participate in two plans: the “Classic offer” and the “Guarantee Plus offer”.
AXA’s chief executive officer, Thomas Buberl (pictured above), highlighted the role of employee participation in the company’s development, noting that the Shareplan allows employees to become shareholders under favourable conditions.
“In 2023, more than 23,000 employees participated in the share offering, demonstrating the continued success of Shareplan, which has become a major annual event in our group culture,” Buberl said.
The offering has been authorised by AXA’s shareholders’ meeting, which took place on April 23, 2024, with the board of directors approving the principle of the offering and setting the reservation period on June 19, 2024.
The CEO’s decision, which will set the reference price, subscription prices, and the retraction/subscription dates, is expected on October 31, 2024.
According to the board’s decision, employees subscribing under the Classic offer will be able to purchase shares at 80% of the reference price, while those opting for the Guarantee Plus offer will be offered shares at 93.60% of the reference price.
The reference price will be calculated based on the volume-weighted average prices of AXA shares over 20 consecutive trading days before the subscription period.
For employees choosing the Guarantee Plus offer, their initial investment will be guaranteed by AXA’s partner bank, Natixis, with a return of either 5% per year on their investment or four times the protected average increase of AXA’s share price, whichever is higher.
The maximum number of new shares that may be issued under the offering is 58,951,965, amounting to a capital increase of approximately €135 million. These new shares will be eligible for dividends declared for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2024.
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