6. Share-Based Compensation

In March 2021, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) approved the grant of non-qualified stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to certain employees, non-employees and members of the Board under the ARKO Corp. 2020 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “Plan”). Stock options granted under the Plan expire no later than ten years from the date of grant and the exercise price shall not be less than the fair market value of the shares on the date of grant. Vesting periods are assigned to stock options and restricted share units on a grant-by-grant basis at the discretion of the Board.  The Company issues new shares of common stock upon exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted share units.

Additionally, a non-employee director may elect to defer up to 100% of his or her cash fees and instead receive RSUs, which must be settled in common stock upon the director’s departure from the Board.  There were 60,000 RSUs issued to non-employee directors outstanding at March 31, 2021.

The fair value of each stock option award is estimated by management on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The following table summarizes the assumptions utilized in the valuation of the stock option awards for the three months ended March 31, 2021:

The expected stock price volatility is based on the historical volatility of the Company’s peer group’s stock price. The volatilities are estimated for a period of time equal to the expected term of the related option. The risk-free interest rate is based on the implied yield of U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues with an equivalent remaining term. The expected term of the options represents the estimated period of time until exercise and is determined by considering the contractual terms, vesting schedule and expectations of future employee behavior. All of the stock option awards were out of money as of March 31, 2021.

The weighted average grant date fair value of time-vested RSUs granted in March 2021 was $9.60 with a grant date fair value of $8.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and vest over 2.8 years.

The Company granted a target of 644,867 performance-based RSUs with a grant date fair value of $6.2 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021. The 2021 performance-based RSUs were awarded to certain members of senior management in connection with the achievement of specific key financial metrics measured over a three-year period and also vest over a three-year period. The number of 2021 performance-based RSUs that will ultimately vest is contingent upon the achievement of these key financial metrics by the end of year three.   The Company assesses the probability of achieving these metrics on a quarterly basis. For these awards, the Company recognizes the fair value expense ratably over the performance and vesting period. These awards are included above in RSUs Granted.

Total compensation cost recorded for employees, non-employees and members of the Board for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 was $1.0 million and $0.1 million, respectively, and included in general and administrative expenses on the condensed consolidated statements of operations. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested shares, stock options and RSUs granted was approximately $15.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively.