8-K 1 a8-k3x24x15perfawards.htm 8-K 8-K 3-24-15 Perf Awards


 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
FORM 8-K
 
 
CURRENT REPORT
 
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): March 19, 2015
 
 
Liberty Global plc
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
 
 
England and Wales
 
001-35961
 
98-1112770
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
 
(Commission File Number)
 
(IRS Employer
Identification #)
 
38 Hans Crescent, London, England
SW1X 0LZ
(Address of Principal Executive Office)
 
+44.20.7190.6449 or 303.220.6600
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
 
 

 
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
 
o      Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
o      Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
o      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
o      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 





Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

(e)  Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

2015 Performance Awards. Pursuant to the Liberty Global 2015 Incentive Plan (the “Incentive Plan”), on March 19, 2015, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of Liberty Global plc's Board of Directors approved performance goals for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015, for annual cash performance awards to its executive officers (the “2015 Performance Awards”). In the following text, the terms "we", "our", "our company" and "us" refers to Liberty Global plc.
 With respect to our Chief Executive Officer and the four other named executive officers of our company, who we currently anticipate will be among our five most highly compensated executive officers for fiscal 2015 (the “2015 NEOs”), a base objective relating to growth in either consolidated revenue or consolidated operating free cash flow (operating cash flow less property and equipment additions) relative to budgeted growth has been designed so that the payment of 2015 Performance Awards to the 2015 NEOs will qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 162m”).  If the 2015 base objective is achieved, the Committee may approve payment to each of the 2015 NEOs of his maximum 2015 Performance Award, subject to the Committee’s discretion to reduce the amount of the award to be paid to any 2015 NEO or to pay no award to such 2015 NEO.  The exercise of the Committee’s discretion as to the amount of the 2015 Performance Award payable to any 2015 NEO will be based on the Committee’s assessment of our company’s consolidated financial performance and the executive’s performance against individual goals in 2015.  The maximum 2015 Performance Award is $8.5 million for our Chief Executive Officer, Michael T. Fries, and $2.5 million for each of the other 2015 NEOs. These same terms will also apply to other officers granted 2015 Performance Awards.
 The individual goals for the 2015 NEOs and our other officers consist of qualitative measures, which include individual strategic, financial, transactional, organizational and/or operational goals for each officer.
2015 PSU Awards. As previously reported, the approach that the Committee has adopted to the equity incentive award component of our executive officers’ compensation packages is to set a target annual equity value for each executive, of which approximately two-thirds would be delivered in the form of an annual award of performance-based restricted share units (“PSUs”) and approximately one-third in the form of an annual award of share appreciation rights (“SARs”).  A similar approach is applied to the equity incentive compensation for other key employees.
 Each year’s award of PSUs has a two-year performance period.  The percentage of the PSU award earned during the relevant performance period is subject to vesting in two equal installments on March 31 and September 30 of the year following the end of the performance period.  Each year’s award of SARs is made at the same time as awards are made under our annual equity grant program for employees and on terms consistent with our standard form of SARs award agreement.
 Also on March 19, 2015, the Committee approved the target annual equity values for 2015 (which are unchange3d from 2014) and granted an aggregate of 645,030 PSUs (the “2015 PSUs”) pursuant to the Incentive Plan for our executive officers, including our NEOs. The 2015 PSUs will be divided with one-third as Class A PSUs and two-thirds as Class C PSUs.  Each 2015 PSU represents the right to receive one Class A ordinary share or Class C ordinary share, as applicable, subject to performance and vesting.  The final determination of the 2015 PSU awards for the other key employees has not yet been made.

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The new target annual equity values and the grants of the 2015 PSUs for our 2015 NEOs are set forth in the table below:
 
 
 
 
Two-thirds of Target
Annual Equity Value in the Form of:
Name and Position
 
Target Annual Equity Value
 
Class A 2015
PSU Grant
 
Class C 2015
PSU Grant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Michael T. Fries; President, Chief Executive Officer
 
$15,000,000
 
 
65,152
 
130,304
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charles H.R. Bracken; Executive Vice President & Co-Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
 
$5,000,000
 
 
21,718
 
43,436
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bernard G. Dvorak; Executive Vice President & Co-Chief Financial Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)
 
$5,000,000
 
 
21,718
 
43,436
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Diederik Karsten; Executive Vice President, European Broadband Operations
 
$5,000,000
 
 
21,718
 
43,436
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balan Nair; Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer
 
$5,000,000
 
 
21,718
 
43,436

The performance period for the 2015 PSUs ends on December 31, 2016.  As the performance measure, the Committee selected growth in consolidated operating cash flow (revenue less operating, selling, general and administrative expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, provisions and provision releases related to significant litigation for litigation, and impairment, restructuring and other operating items), as adjusted for events such as acquisitions, dispositions and changes in foreign currency exchange rates and accounting principles or policies that affect comparability.  In choosing operating cash flow as the performance measure for the 2015 PSUs, the Committee determined to use a measure of performance that was different from those selected for the 2015 Performance Awards (i.e., revenue and operating free cash flow) in order to ensure that the management team would be focused on maximizing performance against a variety of key financial metrics during the performance period.  The target compound annual growth rate in consolidated operating cash flow (“OCF CAGR”) selected by the Committee was based upon a comparison of our 2014 actual results to those reflected in our long-range plan for 2016. The target OCF CAGR is subject to upward or downward adjustment for certain events in accordance with the terms of the grant agreement.  A performance range of 50% to 125% of the target OCF CAGR would generally result in award recipients earning 50% to 150% of their target 2015 PSUs, subject to reduction or forfeiture based on individual performance.  One-half of the earned 2015 PSUs will vest on March 31, 2017 and the balance on September 30, 2017.  The Committee also established a minimum OCF CAGR base performance objective, subject to certain limited adjustments, which must be satisfied in order for named executive officers to be eligible to earn any of their 2015 PSUs.  The base performance objective was designed so that the awards would qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162m.  If the base performance objective is achieved, our named executive officers will be eligible to earn 150% of their 2015 PSUs, subject to the committee’s discretion to reduce the size of the award earned, including to zero, to align with our company’s and the individual’s performance.
The 2015 PSUs are subject to forfeiture or acceleration in connection with certain termination of employment or change-in-control events consistent with the terms of the PSUs granted in 2014.  The 2015 PSUs will convert to time-vested restricted share units following certain change-in-control events.




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SIGNATURE
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
 
 
LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC
 
 
 
By:
/s/ MICHELLE L. KEIST
 
 
Michelle L. Keist
 
 
Vice President and Assistant Secretary
 
Date: March 24, 2015



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