CEO and CFO Exercise of Options and RPT
Eco Animal Health Group plc announced that CEO David Hallas exercised 7,333 share options and CFO Christopher Wilks exercised 5,649 share options, both at a nominal cost of 5p per share, with the transactions settled by existing shares from the Employee Benefit Trust. Following these exercises, David Hallas now holds 232,720 shares (0.34% of issued capital) and Christopher Wilks holds 183,835 shares (0.27% of issued capital), with the total number of ordinary shares remaining at 67,759,671. The company also confirmed a perpetual exclusive licence agreement with Vaxinano SAS for a sheep vaccine candidate, which is considered a related party transaction due to the Non-Executive Chairman's board membership at Vaxinano, but the terms are deemed fair and reasonable by the directors.
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Related Party Transaction
ECO Animal Health Group plc (AIM: EAH), a leading global animal health company developing and marketing branded veterinary products to improve livestock productivity and welfare, announces that David Hallas, Chief Executive Officer, and Christopher Wilks, Chief Financial Officer, have respectively exercised 7,333 and 5,649 nominal cost share options granted under the Company's Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP"). These share options were granted on 24 February 2023. The remainder of the share options awarded to Executive Directors on this date lapsed as the performance conditions were not met. Accordingly, there are no further vested but unexercised share options related to the February 2023 grant to Executive Directors.
The exercises have been fully satisfied through the transfer of existing ordinary shares held by the ECO Animal Health Group Employee Benefit Trust ("EBT"). No new ordinary shares have been issued in connection with these transactions.
Following this, David Hallas holds 232,720 ordinary shares, representing approximately 0.34 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital and Chris Wilks holds 183,835 ordinary shares, representing approximately 0.27 per cent.
Therefore, the total number of ordinary shares with voting rights in the Company remains at 67,759,671. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Group under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
The notifications below, provided in accordance with the requirements of the UK Market Abuse Regulation, provide further details.
Related Party Transaction
The Company announced on 12 August 2026 that it had signed a perpetual exclusive licence agreement with Vaxinano SAS, a biotechnology company pioneering the development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines, for Vaxinano's sheep vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis (the "Agreement").
The Company initially agreed heads of terms with Vaxinano in April 2026, with ECO board approval for the Agreement granted in July ahead of signing in August.
Dr. Joachim Hasenmaier, Non-Executive Chairman of ECO, is also a board member of Vaxinano and thus Vaxinano is deemed to be a related party of the Company under the amended definition of 'related party' in the AIM Rules for Companies that came into effect on 5 August 2026 (the "2026 AIM Rules"). Accordingly, and on the basis of the profits test which has determined the disclosure requirements, the Agreement is deemed to be a related party transaction under AIM Rule 13 of the 2026 AIM Rules. The directors of the Company (excluding Dr. Joachim Hasenmaier), having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that the terms of the Agreement are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
| a. | Name | David Hallas | ||||
| 2. | Reason for the notification | |||||
| a. | Position/status | Chief Executive Officer | ||||
| b. | Initial notification /Amendment | Initial notification | ||||
| a. | Name | Eco Animal Health Group Plc | ||||
| b. | LEI | 2138009XN9DJ3YP7OB55 | ||||
| a. | Description of the Financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code | Ordinary shares of 5p each. GB0032036807 | ||||
| b. | Nature of the transaction | Exercise of options over ordinary shares of 5p each. | ||||
| c. | Price(s) and volume(s) |
| ||||
| d. | Aggregated information Aggregated volume Price | n/a | ||||
| f. | Place of the transaction | Off market | ||||
| 1. | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated | |||||
| a. | Name | Chris Wilks | ||||
| 2. | Reason for the notification | |||||
| a. | Position/status | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
| b. | Initial notification /Amendment | Initial notification | ||||
| a. | Name | Eco Animal Health Group Plc | ||||
| b. | LEI | 2138009XN9DJ3YP7OB55 | ||||
| a. | Description of the Financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code | Ordinary shares of 5p each. GB0032036807 | ||||
| b. | Nature of the transaction | Exercise of options over ordinary shares of 5p each. | ||||
| c. | Price(s) and volume(s) |
| ||||
| d. | Aggregated information Aggregated volume Price | n/a | ||||
| f. | Place of the transaction | Off market |
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.