The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) (the "Board"), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, announces that on 1 May 2018, the Company granted Lynne Fennah, the Company's Chief Financial Officer, nil-cost options over a total of 26,115 ordinary shares in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") relating to the deferred shares element of the annual bonus award for the financial period to 31 December 2017 (the "Annual Bonus Award") as well as 343,861 Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Empiric Long Term Incentive Plan (the "LTIP") pursuant to the 2018 financial year.

The price used to calculate the number of Ordinary Shares under the Annual Bonus Award and the LTIP was 98.15 pence, representing the average of the daily closing prices of the Ordinary Shares on the London Stock Exchange for the 12-month period ended 30 April 2018.

The Annual Bonus Award is not subject to any further performance conditions and in normal circumstances will be exercisable on or after the third anniversary of grant.

The amount granted under the LTIP represents the maximum number of Ordinary Shares that may be granted to Lynne Fennah under the LTIP.

The LTIP is subject to a performance condition whereby 25% of the award vests for achieving a Total Return ("TR") of 8% per annum increasing to 100% vesting for achieving 12% per annum TR, with the Company's TR performance measured over a three-year period ending 31 December 2020. TR is calculated by the change in NAV plus dividends.

The total number of Ordinary Shares over which nil-cost options were granted on 1 May 2018 represents approximately 0.06 per cent. of the Company's issued share capital.

The LTIP transaction took place in the United Kingdom, with a grant date of 1 May 2018 and the Directors being notified on 1 May 2018.

The annual bonus award notification is made in accordance with Article 19 of the Market Abuse Regulations, click here to view the notification.