The Plan requires that the plan administrator make an equitable adjustment to the number, kind and exercise price per share of awards in the event of our recapitalization, reorganization, merger, spin-off, share exchange, dividend of common stock, liquidation, dissolution or other similar transaction or event. In addition, the plan administrator will be permitted to make adjustments to the terms and conditions of any awards in recognition of any unusual or nonrecurring events. Unless otherwise set forth in an award agreement, any awards outstanding under the Plan will vest upon a “change of control,” as defined in the Plan. Our board of directors may, at any time, alter, amend, suspend, discontinue or terminate the Plan, except that any amendment will be subject to the approval of our stockholders if required by applicable law, regulation or stock exchange rule and that, without the consent of the affected participant under the Plan, no action may materially impair the rights of such participant under any awards outstanding under the Plan.
Except in connection with a corporate transaction, including any stock dividend, distribution, stock split, extraordinary cash dividend, recapitalization, change in control, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase or exchange of common shares or other securities, or similar transactions, we may not, without obtaining stockholder approval, (i) amend the terms of outstanding stock options or stock appreciation rights to reduce the exercise price of such outstanding stock options or base price of such stock appreciation rights, (ii) cancel outstanding stock options or stock appreciation rights in exchange for stock options or stock appreciation rights with an exercise price or base price, as applicable, that is less than the exercise price or base price of the original stock options or stock appreciation rights or (iii) cancel outstanding stock options or stock appreciation rights with an exercise price or base price, as applicable, above the current stock price in exchange for cash or other securities.
As of April 18, 2008, the Board of Directors and the Compensation Committee approved incentive compensation of the Manager’s employees with its shares from time to time, after specific for each such time, decision by the compensation committee and the Board of Directors in order to provide a means of compensation in the form of free shares to certain employees of the Manager of the Company’s common stock. The plan was effective as of December 31, 2008. Pursuant to the terms of the plan, employees of the Manager may receive (from time to time) shares of the Company’s common stock as additional compensation for their services offered during the preceding period. The total amount of stock to be granted to employees of the Manager will be at the Company’s Board of Directors’ discretion only and there will be no contractual obligation for any stock to be granted as part of the employees’ compensation package in future periods.
On September 14, 2018, the Company granted 298,774 shares of restricted stock to executive officers of the Company, out of which 149,386 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2019 and 149,388 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2021. On May 10, 2019, the Company granted 137,944 shares of restricted stock to certain employees of the Manager (including 35,714 shares to executive officers), out of which 4,168 shares were forfeited in 2019 and 66,888 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2019. In 2020 and 2021, 714 and 1,685 of these shares were forfeited, respectively, and 64,489 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2021. On February 12, 2021, the Company granted 110,000 fully vested shares to executive officers and Board of Directors members. On March 16, 2021, the Company granted 40,000 shares to certain employees of the Manager, out of which 10,000 fully vested on the grant date, 1,050 were forfeited and 9,650 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2021. An additional 224 restricted shares were forfeited in the year ended December 31, 2022 and the remaining 19,076 restricted shares vested on December 31, 2022. On December 10, 2021, the Company granted 110,000 fully vested shares to executive officers and Board of Directors members and on December 21, 2021, the Company granted 10,000 fully vested shares to certain employees of the Manager. On December 14, 2022, the Company granted 100,000 fully vested shares to executive officers. The fair value of shares granted was calculated based on the closing trading price of the Company’s shares at the grant date. Stock based compensation expenses of $6.0 million, $15.3 million and $1.2 million were recognized under “General and administrative expenses” in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income in the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The average price of issued shares was $54.40 per share and $66.00 per share in the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. No restricted shares were issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2021, 19,300 shares of restricted stock were issued and outstanding.
The Company has also established the Directors Share Payment Plan. The purpose of the plan is to provide a means of payment of all or a portion of compensation payable to directors of the Company in the form of the Company’s common stock. The plan was effective as of April 18, 2008. Each member of the Board of Directors of the Company may participate in the plan. Pursuant to the terms of the plan, directors may elect to receive in Danaos common stock all or a portion of their compensation. During 2022, 2021 and 2020, none of the directors elected to receive his compensation in shares of Danaos common stock. Refer to Note 17, “Stock Based Compensation”, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere herein.