Nice general manager Benny Levin and three senior vice presidents (Joav Avtalion, Mordechai [Mickey] Golan and Avraham [Rami] Lazar) are to be allocated non-negotiable options at a notional value of NIS 6 million each, the Nice Board of Directors decided last week. All four serve as Nice directors and are accordingly considered parties at interest, even though their current holdings in the company’s shares are relatively small.
Nice can be deemed an "options champion" on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. It is one company that has made several option allocations in recent years. The company’s employees at home and were notably the beneficiaries of most of the allocations. Parties at interest received only a small portion of the options, whereas, on TASE, it is customary for most recipients of non-negotiable options to be senior managers only, who are usually also deemed parties at interest. The options were allocated in furtherance of a definite policy of providing employees with incentives.
Most of the options presently held by Nice employees were granted them last year. The Nice Board of Directors decided at various intervals during 1997 to allocate options to employees, as part of a master plan resolved on at the end of 1996. At the end of 1997 employees held 2.1 million options.
In May 1997, the Nice Board decided, for the first time, to allocate options also to parties at interest. A package of 35,000 options thus went to Levin, Avtalion, Golan, Lazar and also to company chairman David (Didi) Arzi. The exercise price of these options was fixed at $19.7 (currently NIS 72.8). These options are exercisable by July 2001. The current value of the options is NIS 3.4 million per manager.
Published by Israel's Business Arena May 11, 1998