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ALICO, INC.

For the period ended Sep 30, 2024. Filed Jan 15, 2025.

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What shareholders are asked to vote on at a company's meeting. It is where to find what directors and top executives are paid, and who owns the most shares.

Sep 30, 2024 · Filed Jan 15, 2025

ALCO$37.09-0.3%Stored close · as of Nov 6, 2026
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“Executive Compensation—Employment Agreements with Named Executive Officers”

Employment Agreements with Named Executive Officers

John E. Kiernan

On April 1, 2022 (the “Original Effective Date”), the Company entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with John E. Kiernan, dated as of April 1, 2022 (the “Kiernan Employment Agreement”). At the same time, on the Original Effective Date, the Company and Mr. Kiernan entered into an annual performance and long term bonus agreement (the “Kiernan Bonus Agreement”). On May 15, 2023 , the Company entered into the Kiernan Letter Agreement, which amended certain terms of Mr. Kiernan’s compensation arrangements, including the Kiernan Employment Agreement and the Kiernan Bonus Agreement.

Employment Agreement

Pursuant to the Kiernan Employment Agreement, Mr. Kiernan would remain President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, for a term commencing on the Original Effective Date and ending on September 30, 2024, subject to extension and termination pursuant to the provisions of the Kiernan Employment Agreement. The Kiernan Bonus Agreement sets forth the terms under which Mr. Kiernan would be eligible and entitled to short-term and long-term incentive cash and equity bonuses.

Under the Kiernan Employment Agreement, Mr. Kiernan’s annual base salary was to be at an annual rate of not less than the following respective amounts (the “Kiernan Annual Base Salary”):

Period of EmploymentAnnual Salary Rate
Original Effective Date through September 30, 2022$400,000
October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023$425,000
October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024$450,000

Within 30 days after the Original Effective Date, Mr. Kiernan also received a signing bonus of $25,000.

Under the Kiernan Employment Agreement, Mr. Kiernan also (i) is eligible for and entitled to short-term and long-term incentive cash bonuses in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement; (ii) may be awarded, under the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan of 2015, or any successor or other incentive plan adopted by the Company from time to time, restricted shares in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement; (iii) may be eligible to otherwise participate in the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan of 2015, or any successor or other incentive plan adopted by the Company from time to time; (iv) is eligible to (A) participate in the employee benefit plans, policies, programs, practices and arrangements that the Company provides to its executives generally from time to time, and (B) receive perquisites on a basis no less favorable than as provided by the Company from time to time to other senior executives of the Company; and (v) may be entitled to certain severance payments.

Under the terms of the Kiernan Employment Agreement, if the Company terminates Mr. Kiernan’s employment without “Cause” or if, following a “Change in Control” of the Company, Mr. Kiernan resigns for “Good Reason” (each as defined in the Kiernan Employment Agreement), then Mr. Kiernan will be entitled to receive, subject to his execution, delivery, and non-revocation of a release of claims and subject to his compliance with the restrictive covenants set forth in the Kiernan Employment Agreement, an amount equal to 150% of his base salary for the most recently completed fiscal year, paid in equal installments for the 18-month period following the Date of Termination (as defined in the Kiernan Employment Agreement). In addition, during the 18-month period following the Date of Termination, the Company will provide to Mr. Kiernan the same health care benefit coverage being made available to similarly situated active Company employees (at no cost to Mr. Kiernan in excess of the employee premium cost applicable to similarly situation active Company employees).

The Kiernan Employment Agreement also includes various restrictive covenants in favor of the Company, including a confidentiality covenant, a nondisparagement covenant, and 12-month post-termination noncompetition and customer and employee nonsolicitation covenants.

On December 23, 2024, we entered into a second amendment and restatement to the Kiernan Employment Agreement with Mr. Kiernan, which, among other things: (i) extended the term of the Kiernan Employment Agreement through September 30, 2027, subject to extension and termination pursuant to the provisions of the Kiernan Employment Agreement, (ii) provided that Mr. Kiernan would be eligible for an annual base salary of $525,000 and (iii) may be awarded, under the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan of 2015, or any successor or other incentive plan adopted by the Company from time to time, restricted stock units in accordance with the terms and provisions of the amended and restated Kiernan Bonus Agreement (as described below).

Bonus Agreement

Under the terms of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement, as amended by the Kiernan Letter Agreement, Mr. Kiernan is eligible to earn a long term cash flow bonus, long term return of capital bonus, and long term real estate bonus (collectively, the “Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus”), and with respect to the period beginning October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2024 (the “Kiernan Long Term Period”) in accordance with the specific performance metrics set forth in the Kiernan Bonus Agreement. Fifty percent of the Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus shall be earned on January 1, 2025, so long as Mr. Kiernan is continuously employed by the Company or its affiliates from the Original Effective Date through such date, and the remaining fifty percent of the Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus shall be earned on January 1, 2026, so long as Mr. Kiernan is continuously employed by the Company or its affiliates from the Original Effective Date through such date; provided, that, with respect to any long term real estate bonus earned by Mr. Kiernan, such bonus will be paid within sixty days following the end of the fiscal year in which such bonus is earned (but in no event later than the December 31 of the calendar year in which such bonus is earned). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Change in Control (as defined in the Kiernan Bonus Agreement) occurs (i) on or after September 30, 2024, but prior to payment of the Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus, then Mr. Kiernan would be entitled to receive the entire Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus; or (ii) after the Original Effective Date but prior to September 30, 2024, then Mr. Kiernan would be entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of the Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus.

Under the terms of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement, Mr. Kiernan was also eligible to earn a transaction bonus upon a Change in Control that occurs during the Kiernan Long Term Period so long as he remains continuously employed by the Company or its affiliates through the closing of such Change in Control, with the amount of such transaction bonus based on the sale price and market capitalization, all as set forth in the Kiernan Bonus Agreement. The amount of the transaction bonus is a percentage of the market capitalization associated with the Change of Control transaction, which is determined by multiplying the number of issued and outstanding shares by the sales price per share in the Change of Control transaction. The percentage that is applied to determine the transaction bonus is dependent on the dollar amount of the sales price per share, with the percentage applied being higher if the sales price per share is higher. The following table sets forth the respective percentages:

Sales Price Per SharePercentage Applied
>$35 and <$400.25%
≥$40 and <$450.50%
≥$45 and <$500.75%
≥$50 and <$551.00%
≥$551.25%

In addition, under the terms of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement, for each fiscal year of his employment, beginning with the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, Mr. Kiernan was eligible to earn or be awarded an annual adjusted EBITDA performance bonus, an annual ROI performance bonus, and an annual discretionary performance bonus, so long as Mr. Kiernan is continuously employed from the Original Effective Date through the last day of the applicable fiscal year. The performance targets shall be determined by the Company from time to time, with the initial year’s performance targets being as set forth in the Kiernan Bonus Agreement.

Under the terms of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement, if at any time during the Kiernan Long Term Period the average 30-day closing per share price of the Company’s Common Stock exceeded the applicable price per share thresholds below, Mr. Kiernan would be issued the corresponding number of shares of restricted stock pursuant to an award agreement in accordance with the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan of 2015. Except to the extent of any acceleration or forfeiture otherwise set forth in the respective award agreement, one-half of the restricted shares granted to Mr.

Kiernan and held by him as of the end of the Kiernan Long Term Period would vest on January 1, 2025, and the remaining one-half of restricted shares granted to Mr. Kiernan and held by him as of the end of the Long Term Period would vest on January 1, 2026, in each case subject to a Termination of Service (as defined in the respective award agreement) not having occurred as of or prior to the applicable vesting date. The restricted shares will also fully vest upon a Termination of Service by the Company without Cause or, following a Change in Control, due to a resignation by Mr. Kiernan for Good Reason (each as defined in the respective award agreement).

Price Per Share ThresholdNumber of Shares Granted
$35 per share5,000 restricted shares
$40 per share12,500 restricted shares
$45 per share20,500 restricted shares

As the above $45 price per share thresholds was not achieved during the Kiernan Long Term Period, Mr. Kiernan did not earn such shares of restricted stock.

On December 23, 2024, we entered into an amendment and restatement of the Kiernan Bonus Agreement concurrently with the second amendment and restatement of the Kiernan Employment Agreement pursuant to which, among other things, (i) notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the long term return of capital bonus earned by Mr. Kiernan with respect to the Kiernan Long Term Period would be earned and paid in full on January 1, 2025, subject to his continued employment through such date, (ii) Mr. Kiernan would no longer be eligible to earn a new Kiernan Long Term Retention Bonus, annual adjusted EBITDA performance bonus or annual ROI performance bonus, but would remain eligible to earn an annual discretionary bonus of $100,000 as well as the transaction bonus described above based on the same performance terms described above, which must be satisfied on or prior to September 30, 2027, (iii) Mr. Kiernan will be eligible to earn a real estate commission bonus with respect to the 2025 fiscal year in accordance with the specific performance metrics set forth in the Kiernan Bonus Agreement and (iv) Mr. Kiernan will be granted a performance-based restricted stock unit award which will be eligible to be earned if at any time prior to September 30 2027, the average 30-day closing per share price of the Company’s Common Stock exceeds the applicable price per share thresholds set forth in below:

Price Per Share ThresholdNumber of PRSUs Earned
$35 per share5,000
$40 per share12,500
$45 per share20,500

The earned performance-based restricted stock units will then be subject to time-based vesting, with the earned performance-based restricted stock units, if any, vesting on September 30, 2027, subject to Mr. Kiernan’s continued service through such date; provided such performance-based restricted stock units will fully vest upon Mr. Kiernan’s termination by the Company without “cause”, due to Mr. Kiernan’s death or “disability” or, following a Change in Control, due to a resignation by Mr. Kiernan for “good reason” (each as defined in the Kiernan Employment Agreement).

In addition, pursuant to the Kiernan Letter Agreement, in the event the Company receives any federal relief proceeds relating to a hurricane or other natural disaster event during the one-year period following Mr. Kiernan’s termination of employment for any reason other than for “Cause” which would have increased the amount of any bonus earned and paid or payable to Mr. Kiernan under the Kiernan Bonus Agreement had the amount of such federal relief proceeds been factored into the applicable performance measures used to calculate such bonus, Mr. Kiernan will be entitled to a cash payment equal to the difference between the amount of the bonus that was previously paid (or earned and payable) to him and the amount that would have been paid had such federal relief proceeds been factored into the applicable performance measures used to calculate such bonus, as determined by the Board in its discretion.

On August 16, 2023, the Company entered into an employment agreement (the “Heine Employment Agreement”) with Bradley Heine relating to Mr. Heine’s employment as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer for an initial term through September 30, 2025, following which the agreement will automatically renew for successive one-year periods unless either party provides sixty days’ prior written notice of non-renewal. The Heine Employment Agreement provides for an annual base salary of $275,000 (subject to increases from time to time as determined by the Company). Mr. Heine is also eligible for an annual incentive compensation award with an annual target opportunity in an amount equal to 40% of his annual base salary.

The Heine Employment Agreement includes various restrictive covenants in favor of the Company, including a confidentiality covenant, a non-disparagement covenant, and 12-month post-termination noncompetition and customer and employee non-solicitation covenants.

On June 3, 2024, the Company entered into a letter agreement (the “Heine Letter Agreement”) with Mr. Heine which amended the Heine Employment Agreement. Pursuant to the Heine Letter Agreement, Mr. Heine is entitled to severance benefits upon termination of his employment with the Company (i) by the Company other than for “Cause”, death or “Disability” or (ii) by Mr. Heine for “Good Reason” on or following a Change in Control (each as defined in the Heine Letter Agreement). Mr. Heine’s severance benefits include, subject to his execution, delivery and non-revocation of a release of claims and subject to his compliance with the restrictive covenants set forth in the Heine Employment Agreement, an amount equal to his annual base salary, payable in installments over the one-year period following the date of termination, and continued health benefits for up to 12 months. The Heine Letter Agreement does not alter any other provisions of the Heine Employment Agreement.

Danny Sutton

On November 15, 2017, the Company entered into an employment offer letter (the “Sutton Offer Letter”) with Mr. Sutton primarily addressing his compensation. The Sutton Offer Letter provided for Mr. Sutton to receive an initial annual base salary $225,000 (currently $297,409) and to be eligible for discretionary annual performance bonuses of up to 40% of his annual salary. Mr. Sutton’s employment with the Company is at-will.

The Sutton Offer Letter also provides that, if Mr. Sutton’s employment is terminated by the Company without “cause,” then, subject to his execution, delivery, and non-revocation of a general release of claims in favor of the Company, Mr. Sutton will be entitled to (i) cash severance, payable in weekly installments, in an amount equal to 26 weeks of the annual base salary if such termination occurs prior to December 31, 2019; (ii) cash severance, payable in weekly installments, in an amount equal to 52 weeks of the annual base salary if such termination occurs prior to December 31, 2020, but subsequent to December 31, 2019; and (iii) cash severance, payable in weekly installments, in an amount equal to 78 weeks of the annual base salary if such termination occurs subsequent to December 31, 2020.

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