Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSX-V:ELBM, NASDAQ:ELBM) has announced the appointment of Joseph (Joe) Racanelli, a 20-year veteran of the capital markets, as its vice president of investor relations.
Working closely with CEO Trent Mell, the company said Racanelli will oversee its engagement with shareholders and the investment community, helping to build profile and visibility of the company's vision of becoming North America's first fully-integrated battery materials park for the electric vehicle industry.
"Joe brings a wealth of experience with sell-side and buy-side equity analysts, deep knowledge of capital markets, and a strong network of relationships across the mining sector," Mell said in a statement. ”His strategic communications and analysis capabilities will be a great asset as we strengthen and raise awareness of the Electra brand with our broad, diverse community of stakeholders.”
READ: Electra Battery Materials updates ATM equity program to raise up to C$20M for growth initiatives, exploration
Prior to his appointment, the company noted that Racanelli served as Director of Investor Relations with a major multinational leader in the mining and refining of nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores.
Additionally, he has more than 20 years of investor relations, marketing and corporate communications experience. Previously, he led the Resources, Commodities and Industrials Practice of Canada's largest capital markets advisory firm, providing strategic capital markets counsel to senior management at assorted small and mid-cap companies.
Over the years, the company said Racanelli has led the communication efforts for complex financial transactions, helped five companies go public, scheduled more than 500 road show meetings and established strong relations with buy-side and sell-side contacts around the world. He is a frequent speaker on IR issues and topics.
"Electra is at an important inflection point and I'm excited to be joining the company at this stage of its growth," Racanelli added. "With a number of upcoming milestones and catalysts, Electra is well on its way to delivering its strategic plan to become the most sustainable battery materials company in the world."
Stock options
The company also announced that, in accordance with its long-term incentive plan, it has granted incentive stock options to purchase an aggregate of 350,000 pre-consolidation common shares of Electra exercisable at the previous day's closing price of $4.63 for a period of five years.
The stock options will vest in three equal tranches on the first, second and third anniversary of the grant date. Long-term incentive grants are a key retention and incentive tool for key employees and new hires and remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the company said.
It also issued 39,500 restricted share units (RSUs) to the owner's team exercisable at a price of the previous day's close of $4.63 as part of a retention plan that will take the project to commissioning. The RSUs vest on August 1 2022 and January 1 2023.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com