Employee and Director Benefit Plans

The Company grants common stock options under its 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and its 2005 Directors' Stock Option Plan and issues stock under its 2005 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which plans have been approved by Versant's shareholders.

Shares Reserved for Future Issuance

At the Company's 2011 annual shareholder meeting, held on April 18, 2011, the shareholders approved an increase of 300,000 shares and 20,000 shares in the numbers of shares reserved under the Company's 2005 Equity Incentive Plan and 2005 Directors' Stock Option Plan, respectively.

As of January 31, 2012, the Company had reserved shares of common stock for the following purposes (in thousands):



Reserved for issuance:
Employee stock purchase plan	23
Shares available for grant	316
Unexercised stock options	674
Balance as of January 31, 2012	1,013

The following table summarizes stock option activities under the Company’s equity-based compensation plans during the three months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011:



	Three Months Ended January 31,
	2012				2011
	Shares in thousands		Weighted average exercise price		Shares in thousands		Weighted average exercise price
Stock option activity:
Outstanding at the beginning of the period	651		$	15.20	515		$	16.84
Granted	33		10.86		142		11.81
Exercised	(2	)	4.60		—		—
Forfeited and expired	(8	)	13.18		(5	)	77.31
Outstanding at the end of the period	674		$	15.04	652		$	15.28

Options exercisable at the end of the period	538		$	15.51	393		$	16.05

Under the 2005 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, employees may generally defer up to 10% of their compensation to purchase shares of our common stock at a purchase price equal to 85% of the lower of the fair market value per share of our common stock on (i) the commencement date of the applicable six month offering period or (ii) the applicable purchase date. During the three months ended January 31, 2012, 7,699 shares were issued under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Approximately 23,000 shares remained available for future issuance as of January 31, 2012.

On February 21, 2011, the Board of Directors of the Company approved an amendment to the 2005 Equity Incentive Plan to allow the grant of restricted stock units and approved the grant to employees of 29,000 common stock options and 43,950 restricted stock units which began vesting on November 1, 2011 and December 1, 2011, respectively. The Company generally considers employee equity compensation on an annual basis after the close of the fiscal year.