Grain company Viterra has set up an employee share purchase plan, giving its staff the option to invest in the Regina firm’s common shares.
“The board of directors believes this program will more closely align the goals of our employees with the interests of our shareholders” CEO Mayo Schmidt said in a release Thursday.
The plan takes effect July 1 for Viterra’s Canadian employees and later for subsidiary and foreign employees. Eligible employees can opt to invest up to 10 per cent of their regular earnings into Viterra common shares through payroll deductions.
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All regular full-time and part-time employees who have completed 90 days of continuous service would be eligible to participate in the plan, the company said.
Common shares would be purchased on the open market at current market prices through a third-party plan administrator, Viterra said. The company would then contribute 50 per cent of an employee’s personal contribution to the plan each pay period.
The board, in rolling out the plan, also approved a gift of 20 common shares for every eligible employee, excluding executives. The initial gift of common shares is to be purchased at the company’s expense on the open market after July 1.
Viterra’s publicly traded shares on the TSX were trading at $14.15 shortly before 2 p.m. ET on Thursday afternoon.
