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STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS
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Jun. 30, 2014
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| Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS |
NOTE 12 - STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS
Employees’ Plans
The Compensation and Organization Committee (“Committee”) of the board of directors approved grants on February 10, 2014 and May 12, 2014 to certain officers and employees under our shareholder-approved 2012 Equity Plan for the 2014 to 2016 performance period. Shares granted under the awards during 2014 consisted of 0.5 million performance shares and 0.2 million restricted share units.
The 2012 Equity Plan was approved by our board of directors on March 13, 2012 and our shareholders approved it on May 8, 2012, effective as of March 13, 2012. The 2012 Equity Plan replaced the ICE Plan. The maximum number of shares that may be issued under the 2012 Equity Plan is 6.0 million common shares. No additional grants were issued from the ICE Plan after the date of approval of the 2012 Equity Plan; however, all awards previously granted under the ICE Plan continue in full force and effect in accordance with the terms of the award.
On February 10, 2014, upon recommendation by the Committee, Cliffs’ Board approved and adopted, subject to the approval of Cliffs' shareholders at the 2014 annual meeting of shareholders, the Cliffs Amended and Restated 2012 Incentive Equity Plan, or Revised Incentive Plan. The principal reason for amending and restating the 2012 Equity Plan is to increase the number of common shares available for issuance by 5.0 million common shares. Upon shareholder approval, additional grants to employees will be made for the 2014 to 2016 performance period.
For the outstanding ICE Plan and 2012 Equity Plan awards, each performance share, if earned, entitles the holder to receive common shares or cash within a range between a threshold and maximum number of our common shares, with the actual number of common shares earned dependent upon whether the Company achieves certain objectives and performance goals as established by the Committee. The performance share or unit grants vest over a period of three years and are intended to be paid out in common shares or cash in certain circumstances. Performance for the 2012 to 2014, 2013 to 2015 and 2014 to 2016 performance periods are measured only on the basis of relative TSR for the period and measured against the constituents of the S&P Metals and Mining ETF Index on the last day of trading of the performance period. The final payouts for the 2012 to 2014 performance period, the 2013 to 2015 performance period and the 2014 to 2016 performance period will vary from zero to 200 percent of the original grant. The restricted share units are subject to continued employment and will vest at the end of the respective performance period, and are payable in common shares or cash in certain circumstances at a time determined by the Committee at its discretion.
Upon the occurrence of a change in control, all performance shares, restricted share units, restricted stock, performance units and retention units granted to a participant prior to October 2013 will vest and become nonforfeitable and will be paid out in cash for awards currently outstanding. For any equity grants awarded after September 2013, if we experience a change in control, then the vesting of all such grants only will accelerate following the employee's termination associated with the change in control and if the common shares are not substituted with a replacement award.
Determination of Fair Value
The fair value of each grant is estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation to forecast relative TSR performance. A correlation matrix of historic and projected stock prices was developed for both the Company and our predetermined peer group of mining and metals companies. The fair value assumes that performance goals will be achieved.
The expected term of the grant represents the time from the grant date to the end of the service period for each of the three plan-year agreements. We estimate the volatility of our common shares and that of the peer group of mining and metals companies using daily price intervals for all companies. The risk-free interest rate is the rate at the grant date on zero-coupon government bonds, with a term commensurate with the remaining life of the performance plans.
The following assumptions were utilized to estimate the fair value for the first and second quarters of 2014 performance share grants:
The fair value of the restricted share units is determined based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on the grant date. The restricted share units granted under either the ICE Plan or 2012 Equity Plan vest over a period of three years.
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