Italian cabling giant launches share-incentive plan for over 25,000 employees

Prysmian Group has launched an innovative share-based variable remuneration and profit-sharing plan in company shares, aimed potentially at more than 25,000 employees between blue and white-collar workers in over 35 countries.

Approved by a majority at the Shareholders’ Meeting, the plan will run over 2022, 2023 and 2024 and provides for the allocation of a maximum of 3,000,000 shares.

The main objective is to share with a broad base of employees, mainly blue-collar workers, the creation of value that the group will be able to generate in the coming years, as well as to strengthen the engagement and sense of belonging, promoting their stable participation in the company’s share capital, Prysmian said.

“We are a genuine public company and it is key for us to align the interests of all stakeholders, from employees to shareholders, around the common goal of creating long-term sustainable value. To achieve this goal, it is therefore essential to involve those who are not recipients of share-based incentive plans usually reserved for managers and executives, such as stock options,” said Valerio Battista, Group CEO of Prysmian.

Employees may participate in the plan on a voluntary basis, unless otherwise provided for in agreements with trade unions, opting to receive payment of a portion of the monetary incentive to which they are entitled or of production bonuses, through a counter value equal to a number of shares that will be calculated according to the amount of each individual bonus and the assignment value.

It is envisaged that the company will define a minimum and/or predetermined conversion percentage of the monetary bonus into shares on an annual and individual basis.

The plan also provides for employees to be granted an additional number of shares, up to a maximum value of 50 per cent of the portion of the monetary bonus covered by shares, as well as an additional number of shares after 12 months, provided that the shares initially received are not sold before the end of this annual period.

Prysmian employees, including top management, at the moment hold about 3 per cent of the company’s capital.