Success for KORUS 2022, Korian’s first employee share ownership plan
Korian has successfully implemented its first employee share ownership plan, open to employees in the Group’s seven countries (France , Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom).
The plan gave employees the opportunity to become shareholders on preferential terms and with full protection of their investment, with the aim of giving them a greater stake in Korian’s ambitious transformation and innovation plans and enabling them to benefit from its long-term growth .
Strong employee take-up
More than 9,250 people, representing 15% of eligible employees, took part in the offer, buying shares at a price of €14.25 each . In France, take-up was strong, with more than 5,600 employees buying shares through the plan, almost 24% of those eligible.
The KORUS plan was designed to increase engagement among all Group employees and give them a greater stake in its corporate project by allowing them to buy shares on preferential terms, topping up their investments on a euro-for-euro basis for the first €200 and guaranteeing their initial investment (including the employer top-up). Participants will also receive a multiple of any protected average increase in Korian’s share price during the five-year lock-up period.
On 21 July 2022, Korian will deliver or transfer 2,798,231 shares to participants in the KORUS plan (via the FCPE company mutual fund or directly for participants in Italy), representing 2.65% of Korian’s share capital and voting rights .
Rémi Boyer, Group Chief Human Resources and CSR Officer, said:
“The strong take-up of Korian’s first employee share ownership plan, which is also the first plan of its kind in our sector, shows the high level of employee confidence and buy-in regarding our corporate project.
At a time when we are embarking on a new phase in our history by becoming a European mission-led company, we are proud to be giving Korian’s women and men, regardless of their role, a greater stake in our future success by sharing the value we create, in line with our values and our mission.”
Dilution neutralised by the ESG impact share buyback programme, which has funded projects supported by the Korian Foundation
The transaction involved almost no dilution for existing shareholders because of the share buyback programme announced on 9 December 2021.
The ESG component of the share buyback programme meant that most of the outperformance achieved, i.e. just over €900,000, has been allocated to projects supported by the Korian Foundation to promote the care profession and the integration of young people into society and the workforce.
This will be achieved particularly through partnerships with Agir pour le cœur des femmes in the medical and social fields, La Maison des Femmes and its plan to set up a psychiatric clinic for women who have been victims of violence in Seine-Saint-Denis, Alliance pour l’éducation – United Way as part of a collective corporate philanthropy project supported by 19 companies, Défi Jeunesse, which promotes equal opportunities through career choices, and FACE (Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion), a foundation that brings together public-sector, private-sector and non-profit organisations to combat exclusion, discrimination and poverty.
