9. Share-based payments

As of September 30, 2016, the Company maintains two share-based incentive plans: the 2008 Share Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”), which was carried forward as a result of the TBO Merger effective on March 21, 2015 and the Cogint, Inc. 2015 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”), which was approved during the annual meeting of stockholders on June 2, 2015, which authorized the issuance of 2,500,000 shares of common stock. The 2015 Plan was amended on June 3, 2016 at the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders which approved an increase of the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2015 Plan to 12,500,000. The primary purpose of the 2015 Plan is to attract, retain, reward and motivate certain individuals by providing them with an opportunity to acquire or increase a proprietary interest in the Company and to incentivize them to expend maximum effort for the growth and success of the Company, so as to strengthen the mutuality of the interests between such individuals and the stockholders of the Company.

As of September 30, 2016, there were 180,568 and 5,894,361 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2008 Plan and the 2015 Plan, respectively.

Share options

Details of share options activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were as follows:

	Number of options			Weighted average exercise price per share		Weighted average remaining contractual term	Aggregate intrinsic value
Balance as of December 31, 2015		462,000		$	9.52	5.3 years	$	-
Granted		30,000			5.04
Forfeited		(30,000	)		9.59
Expired		(100,000	)		6.02
Balance as of September 30, 2016		362,000		$	10.10	4.8 years	$	-
Options exercisable as of September 30, 2016		271,583		$	10.60	3.3 years	$	-

The aggregate intrinsic value amounts in the table above represent the difference between the closing price of the Company’s common stock on September 30, 2016 of $5.09 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money stock options as of the same date.

The unvested balance of options is shown below for the nine months ended September 30, 2016:

	Number of options			Weighted average exercise price per share		Weighted average remaining contractual term
Unvested as of December 31, 2015		126,667		$	9.02	8.1 years
Granted		30,000			5.04
Vested		(36,250	)		6.37
Forfeited		(30,000	)		9.59
Unvested as of September 30, 2016		90,417		$	8.57	9.2 years

Compensation expenses recognized from employee stock options for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 of $35 and $15, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 of $82 and $35, respectively, were recognized in general and administrative expenses and discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. As of September 30, 2016, unrecognized share-based compensation cost relating to granted share options amounted to $430, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 3.2 years.

Restricted stock units

Details of unvested RSUs activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were as follows:

	Number of units			Weighted average grant-date fair value
Unvested as of December 31, 2015⁽¹⁾		13,721,000		$	7.78
Granted		743,639			4.87
Vested and delivered		(379,737	)		6.65
Withheld as treasury stock ⁽²⁾		(61,685	)		6.25
Vested not delivered		(1,437,667	)		1.54
Forfeited		(123,500	)		6.95
Unvested as of September 30, 2016		12,462,050		$	8.38

⁽¹⁾	Among the total unvested balance as of December 31, 2015, 12,312,000 shares, with weighted average grant-date fair value of $9.48, were subsequently approved at the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders on June 3, 2016.

⁽²⁾	As discussed in Note 8, the increase in treasury stock was due to shares withheld to pay statutory withholding taxes upon the vesting of RSUs during the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

The Company recognized compensation expenses (included in sales and marketing expenses, general and administrative expenses, and discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations, and intangible assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheets) for these RSUs of $7,615 and $1,547 for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and $22,561 and $4,090 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The fair value of the RSUs was estimated using the market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant, which was equivalent to the closing price of the common stock on the grant date.

As of September 30, 2016, unrecognized share-based compensation expenses associated with the granted RSUs amounted to $79,622, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.7 years.

Shares issued to third-party vendors

The Company issues shares to certain third-party vendors from time to time in lieu of cash for services rendered. During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, 14,500 restricted shares of common stock were issued to certain vendors of the Company as additional consideration for services rendered. Stock compensation expenses for shares issued to third-party vendors of $37 and $228 for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and $166 and $228 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, were recognized in general and administrative expenses.

The share-based compensation expenses for the Company’s share options, RSUs and common stock were allocated to the following accounts in the condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2016		2015		2016		2015
Sales and marketing expenses	$	657	$	17	$	1,778	$	79
General and administrative expenses		6,661		1,664		20,163		3,573
Discontinued operations		-		-		-		462
Capitalized in intangible assets		369		109		868		239
Total	$	7,687	$	1,790	$	22,809	$	4,353