Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

43 (1) For the new option to qualify as a replacement option the following requirements must also be met. U.K.

(2) The new option must be granted to the holder of the old option by reason of the holder’s employment—

(a) with the acquiring company, or

(b) if that company is a parent company, with that company or another member of the group.

(3) The requirements of—

(a) paragraph 4 (purpose of granting option),

(b) paragraph 7 (maximum value of options in respect of relevant company) (as it has effect under sub-paragraph (4)), and

(c) Part 5 (requirements as to options),

must be met in relation to the new option at the time of the release of rights under the old option (“the relevant time”).

(4) For the purposes of paragraph 7 (as applied by sub-paragraph (3)(b)) the total value of the shares in the acquiring company that are subject to the new option is to be taken to be equal to the total value (as calculated in accordance with paragraph 5(6) to (8)) of the shares that were subject to the old option immediately before the relevant time.

(5) In addition to the requirements mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)—

(a) the independence requirement and the trading activities requirement must be met in relation to the acquiring company at the relevant time, and

(b) the individual to whom the new option is granted must be an eligible employee in relation to the acquiring company at that time.

(6) The total market value, immediately before the relevant time, of the shares which were subject to the old option must be equal to the total market value, immediately after the grant of the new option, of the shares in respect of which that option is granted.

(7) The total amount payable by the employee for the acquisition of the shares under the new option must be equal to the total amount that would have been payable for the acquisition of shares under the old option.