Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stockholders' Equity

v2.4.1.9
Stockholders' Equity
9 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Equity [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Effectiveness of Registration Statement and Distribution of Shares
A-Mark filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form S-1 relating to the Distribution by SGI to its shareholders of all the shares of common stock of the Company. The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on February 11, 2014.
The spinoff of the Company from SGI was effected on March 14, 2014 and an aggregate of 7,402,664 shares of A-Mark's common stock were distributed to SGI stockholders. On March 17, 2014, A-Mark's shares began trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AMRK". All share and per share information has been retrospectively adjusted to give effect for the Distribution.
Subsequent to the Distribution, SGI informed the Company that an aggregate of 71,922 shares of A-Mark's common stock should not have been distributed because the SGI shares with respect to which those shares were distributed had been incorrectly classified as outstanding. Accordingly, effective as of March 14, 2014, those 71,922 shares were canceled and returned to the status of authorized but unissued stock.
Repurchase of Common Shares
On June 4, 2014, A-Mark entered into an amendment (“Amendment No. 1”) to the Purchase Agreement (as amended, the “Purchase Agreement”) dated February 26, 2014 with Afinsa, Auctenia and SGI pursuant to which, among other things, SGI agreed to purchase all shares of SGI’s common stock held by Afinsa and Auctentia and Afinsa and Auctentia agreed to sell to A-Mark any shares of common stock of A-Mark received by Afinsa and Auctentia in SGI’s spinoff of A-Mark, which was effected on March 14, 2014. As previously disclosed, the first closing under the Purchase Agreement occurred on February 26, 2014.
Pursuant to Amendment No. 1, also on June 4, 2014, A-Mark purchased 5,520 shares of A-Mark common stock from Afinsa and 373,513 shares of A-Mark common stock from Auctentia for an aggregate purchase price of $2.2 million plus interest in the amount of $0.02 million calculated from February 26, 2014 at the rate of 4% per annum. Afinsa and Auctentia no longer hold any shares of A-Mark common stock.
Shares of A-Mark common stock purchased under the Purchase Agreement have been returned to the status of authorized but unissued shares.
Payment of Dividends
On July 1, 2013, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a $5.0 million dividend to SGI (Former Parent), which was paid on July 5, 2013. On February 12, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a dividend to SGI (Former Parent) in the aggregate amount of $5.0 million, which was paid on February 26, 2014.
    Post the Distribution, the Board of Directors of the Company has initiated a cash dividend policy that calls for the payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share. The first quarterly cash dividend of $0.3 million, in aggregate, was paid on March 20, 2015 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 12, 2015.
On May 1, 2015, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 14, 2015, which is scheduled to be paid on May 25, 2015.
2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan
Prior to the Distribution, the Company’s Board of Directors ("Board") adopted and the Company's then sole stockholders approved the 2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan ("2014 Plan"). Under the 2014 Plan, the Company may grant options and other equity awards as a means of attracting and retaining officers, employees, non-employee directors and consultants, to provide incentives to such persons, and to align the interests of such persons with the interests of stockholders by providing compensation based on the value of the Company's stock. Awards under the 2014 Plan may be granted in the form of incentive or non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock, restricted stock units, dividend equivalent rights and other stock-based awards (which may include outright grants of shares). The 2014 Plan also authorizes grants of performance-based cash incentive awards. The 2014 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, which, in its discretion, may select officers and other employees, directors (including non-employee directors) and consultants to the Company and its subsidiaries to receive grants of awards. The Board of Directors itself may perform any of the functions of the Compensation Committee under the 2014 Plan.
Under the 2014 Plan, the exercise price of options and base price of SARs may be set at the discretion of the Committee, but generally may not be less than the fair market value of the shares on the date of grant, and the maximum term of stock options and SARs is 10 years. The 2014 Plan limits the number of share-denominated awards that may be granted to any one eligible person to 250,000 shares in any fiscal year. Also, in the case of non-employee directors, the 2014 Plan limits the maximum grant-date fair value at $300,000 of stock-denominated awards granted to a director in a given fiscal year, except for a non-employee Chairman of the Board whose grant-date fair value maximum is $600,000 per fiscal year. The 2014 Plan will terminate when no shares remain available for issuance and no awards remain outstanding; however, the authority to grant new awards will terminate on December 13, 2022.
As of March 31, 2015, 625,000 shares were available for grants under the 2014 Plan. At that date no awards had yet been granted under the 2014 Plan.
Equity Awards Assumed in Connection with the Spinoff
Prior to the Distribution Date, the SGI Board of Directors and the Compensation Committee of the SGI Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors of A-Mark, had taken action to provide that the holders of share-based awards, outstanding as of March 14, 2014, denominated in and settleable by delivery of shares of SGI common stock, would have their SGI share-based awards canceled upon the effectiveness of the Distribution, and in place of the canceled awards would become entitled to receive share-based awards denominated in and settleable by delivery of shares of the Company's common stock. The exchange ratio was based on the average closing market price of SGI’s common stock in the final three trading days on which SGI common stock traded before trading ex-dividend with respect to the Distribution, and the average closing market price of A-Mark’s common stock on its first three trading days in the NASDAQ Global Select Market (the “Exchange Ratio”). This resulted in an Exchange Ratio of 0.2397, based on an average closing price for SGI shares of $3.32 and an average closing price for A-Mark shares of $13.85. (For reference, the closing SGI price per share on March 14, 2014 was $3.37 per share and the closing A-Mark price per share on March 17, 2014 was $13.30 and on March 19, 2014 was $14.00.)
Accordingly, to provide for the equitable treatment of holders of then outstanding SGI equity awards in connection with the spinoff, the Company modified (reduced) the number of shares underlying each affected SGI award in the form of stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) or restricted stock units (“RSUs”) by a factor of 0.2397 to one (with the number of shares rounded up to the next whole share for the entire award, with rounding up of previously vested tranches first and rounding down (where necessary) of later vested tranches). For stock options and SARs, the Company modified (increased) the holders’ award exercise price or base price by a factor 4.1717 to one (the inverse of the Exchange Ratio), with per share exercise prices or base prices then rounded up to the next whole cent. These actions were taken pursuant to the anti-dilution assumption and adjustments approved by SGI and A-Mark. As a result, the Company granted, on March 19, 2014 (the date as of which the exchange ratio became determinable based on the average closing market price of A-Mark common stock), 130,646 RSUs, 8,990 SARs and options to purchase 249,846 shares of common stock. These awards are deemed to be granted under the original plans and arrangements of SGI that have been assumed by the Company, not under the 2014 Plan. However, the Company has not assumed those SGI plans and arrangements insofar as they authorize future grants of share-based compensation (as distinguished from the grants of replacement awards described above).
The cancelation and reissuance of share-based awards are accounted for as modifications in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation. The Company compared the fair value of each award immediately before and after modification and determined that the modification did not create any incremental compensation costs. Accordingly, there were no changes to the compensation costs of these awards, as determined using the Black-Scholes fair value model for stock options and SARs, and the common stock value for RSUs, on the original grant dates of each award.
Of the 249,846 stock options, 130,646 RSUs and 8,990 SARs issued in connection with the spinoff, 216,943 stock options, 50,340 RSUs and 8,990 SARs were issued to employees of the Company and the remainder were issued to employees of SGI. After the spinoff, the Company will recognize remaining compensation costs related to awards held by employees of the Company, including SGI employees who transferred to the Company in conjunction with the spinoff, over the remaining service period for each award. The Company does not recognize compensation cost for financial reporting purposes relating to the awards replaced by A-Mark following the Distribution which were held by persons who remained employees of SGI.
From March 31, 2015, the Company will recognize compensation expense of $0.4 million, and $0.1 million, related to stock-options, and RSUs, respectively, over weighted average periods 2.6 years, and 1.0 years, respectively. Compensation expense related to SARs have been fully amortized as of March 31, 2015. The Company will not recognize compensation costs for awards held by employees of SGI, as they are not providing any services to the Company.
Employee Stock Options
Our Former Parent had granted employee stock options to certain members of management, key employees, and directors, including to A-Mark personnel, that were denominated in and settleable by delivery of shares of SGI common stock. Effective with the Distribution, the SGI share-based awards were canceled and in place of the canceled awards the holders of the awards were entitled to receive share-based awards denominated in and settable by delivery of shares of the Company's stock.
During the three and nine months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company incurred compensation expense related to stock options granted to the Company's employees (including SGI employees who transferred to the Company in conjunction with the spinoff) that were settleable in shares of SGI common stock (prior to the date of Distribution) and settleable in shares of Company's common stock (subsequent to the date of Distribution and award modification) as set forth below.
in thousands
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
 
March 31, 2015
 
March 31, 2014
 
March 31, 2015
 
March 31, 2014
 
Stock option based Compensation Cost related to Shares Settleable in:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SGI common stock
 
$

 
$

 
$

 
$

 
A-Mark common stock
 
35.5

 
8.0

 
112.7

 
8.0

 
Total stock option based compensation costs
 
$
35.5

 
$
8.0

 
$
112.7

 
$
8.0

 

As of March 31, 2015, there was total remaining compensation expense of $0.4 million related to employee stock options, which will be recorded over a weighted average period of approximately 2.6 years.
The following table summarizes the stock option activity for the nine months ended March 31, 2015:
 
 
Options
 
Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share
 
Aggregate Intrinsic Value
(in thousands)
 
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Award (1)
Outstanding at June 30, 2014
 
230,787

 
$
10.00

 
$
407

 
$
5.98

Granted through stock option plan
 

 

 
 
 
 
Exercised
 

 

 
 
 
 
Cancellations, expirations and forfeitures
 
(660
)
 
48.02

 
 
 
 
Outstanding at March 31, 2015
 
230,127

 
9.89

 
$
305

 
$
6.00

Shares exercisable at March 31, 2015
 
158,213

 
10.60

 
$
143

 
$
5.87


_________________________________
(1)
 
For awards held by A-Mark employees, the fair value of the awards assumed in Distribution was based awards' fair value at grant date, which were determined by SGI prior to the Distribution. Since, the Company does not recognize compensation costs for the awards assumed in the Distribution held by employees of SGI, the calculation of the weighted average fair value per share price at grant date was solely based on the awards' fair value at grant date that were awarded to employees of A-Mark.
 

Following is a summary of the status of stock options outstanding at March 31, 2015:
 
 
 
 
Options Outstanding
 
Options Exercisable
Exercise Price Ranges
 
Number of Shares Outstanding
 
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)
 
Weighted Average Exercise Price
 
Number of Shares Exercisable
 
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)
 
Weighted Average Exercise Price
From
 
To
 
 
 
 
 
 
$

 
$
10.00

 
134,239

 
7.61
 
$
8.39

 
62,325

 
7.64
 
$
8.44

10.01

 
15.00

 
95,888

 
7.46
 
12.00

 
95,888

 
7.46
 
12.00

 
 
 
 
230,127

 
7.54
 
9.89

 
158,213

 
7.53
 
10.60


Restricted Stock Units
During the three and nine months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company incurred compensation expense related to RSUs granted to the Company's employees (including SGI employees who transferred to the Company in conjunction with the spinoff) that were settleable in shares of SGI common stock (prior to the date of Distribution) and settleable in shares of the Company's common stock (subsequent to the date of Distribution and award modification) as set forth below.
in thousands
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
March 31, 2015
 
March 31, 2014
 
March 31, 2015
 
March 31, 2014
RSUs-based Compensation Cost related to Share Settleable in:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SGI common stock
 
$

 
$
24.6

 
$

 
$
98.2

A-Mark common stock
 
22.6

 
4.3

 
67.7

 
4.3

Total RSUs based compensation costs
 
$
22.6

 
$
28.9

 
$
67.7

 
$
102.5


The remaining compensation expense that will be recorded under restricted stock grants totals $0.1 million, which will be recorded over a weighted average period of approximately 1.0 years.
The following table summarizes the RSU activity for the nine months ended March 31, 2015:
 
Shares
 
Weighted Average Share Price at Grant Date (1)
Outstanding at June 30, 2014
106,674

 
$
2.72

Shares granted

 

Shares released

 

Shares forfeited

 

Outstanding at March 31, 2015
106,674

 
$
2.72

Vested but unissued at March 31, 2015

 
$


_________________________________
(1)
 
For awards held by A-Mark employees, the fair value of the awards assumed in Distribution was based awards' fair value at grant date, which were determined by SGI prior to the Distribution. Since, the Company does not recognize compensation costs for the awards assumed in the Distribution held by employees of SGI, the calculation of the weighted average share price at grant date was solely based on the awards' fair value at grant date that were awarded to employees of A-Mark.
 
 
 
 
 

     No tax benefit was recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of income related to share-based compensation for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2015. No share-based compensation was capitalized for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2015.
Stock Appreciation Rights
The Company, from time to time, may grant SARs to certain key employees and executive officers. The number of shares to be received under these awards ultimately depends on the appreciation in the Company’s common stock over a specified period of time, generally 3.0 years. At the end of the stated appreciation period, the number of shares of common stock issued will be equal in value to the appreciation in the shares of the Company’s common stock, as measured from the stock's closing price on the date of grant to the average price in the last month of the third year of vesting. As of March 31, 2015, the Company had issued and outstanding 8,990 SARs with an average base price of $50.31, in connection with the spinoff. At March 31, 2015, there was no intrinsic value associated with these arrangements. The Company did not recognize any compensation expense related to these awards during the nine months ended March 31, 2015. There is no remaining compensation expense that will be recorded for these awards.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions
The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and by-laws contain certain anti-takeover provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, control of the Company without negotiating with its Board. Such provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for the Company’s securities. Certain of such provisions provide for a Board with staggered terms, allow the Company to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock, or impose various procedural and other requirements which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions.