The future issuance of additional common shares in connection with our stock option plan, convertible bonds, acquisitions or otherwise may adversely affect the market of the ADSs.
As of December 31, 2023, there were an aggregate of 589,500 of our common shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, at a weighted average exercise price of JPY866 (US$5.38) per share. During the period from January 1 to September 30, 2024, of those issuable common shares, 3,500 shares have been issued pursuant to the exercise of options that are part of our fifth series of stock acquisition rights for common shares and 155,950 shares have been issued pursuant to the exercise of stock options that are part of our ninth series of stock acquisition rights for common shares. As a result, 159,450 shares of our common stock were issued upon exercise of stock options during the period from January 1 to September 30, 2024. During the same period, stock options exercisable for 1,850 common shares have been forfeited due to resignation of the option holders from the Company, and those exercisable for 135,200 common shares have also been forfeited due to expiration of exercise period of the ninth series of stock acquisition rights. As of October 31, 2024, there are an aggregate of 293,000 of our common shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, at a weighted average exercise price of JPY1,738 (US$10.80) per share. If and when more options are exercised for our common shares, the number of common shares outstanding will increase. Such an increase in our outstanding securities, and any sales of such shares, could have a material adverse effect on the market for the ADSs, and the market price of the ADSs.
On March 8, 2024, our board of directors adopted the MEDIROM Healthcare Technologies Inc. 2024 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2024 Equity Incentive Plan”), which was approved at our annual meeting of the shareholders held on March 29, 2024. Under the 2024 Equity Incentive Plan, we may grant stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance share awards to our Company’s directors, internal corporate auditors, officers, employees and consultants. A total of 497,500 shares of common stock are authorized for issuance under the 2024 Equity Incentive Plan. We currently plan to continue granting stock options and other incentives so that we can continue to secure talented personnel in the future. We may issue all of these common shares without any further action or approval by our shareholders, subject to certain exceptions. Any common shares, issued in connection with our stock option plan, the exercise of outstanding stock options, or otherwise, would dilute your ownership interest.
In addition, we have used in the past, and may in the future use, convertible bonds in our financing activities. For example, we issued corporate convertible bonds in the aggregate amount of JPY500,000 thousand (US$3,108 thousand) to Kufu Company Inc., a Japanese company, in December 2022, the terms of which we amended on November 1, 2024. The bonds are unsecured, accrue interest at a rate of 5.0% per annum, payable on June 30, 2023 and semi-annually thereafter, and will mature on December 31, 2025, unless earlier converted. At any time between the six-month anniversary date of December 28, 2022 and before the close of business on December 30, 2025, Kufu Company Inc., as the bond holder, may convert the bonds at its option, in whole or in part, into our common shares.
In addition, we issued corporate convertible bonds in the amount of JPY300,000 thousand (US$1,865 thousand) to Triple One Investment Limited Partnership, a Japanese limited liability investment partnership, in October 2024. The bonds are unsecured, accrue interest at a rate of 2.0% per annum, payable on June 30, 2025 and semi-annually thereafter, and will mature on October 29, 2027. At any time between October 25, 2024 and October 29, 2027, Triple One may convert each bond, which are issued in denominations of ¥100,000 thousand and may be converted in whole but not in part, into our common shares at a conversion price of JPY957 (US$5.95) per share by exercising stock options that were issued to Triple One in connection with the bonds.
We may also issue stock to provide consideration in connection with future acquisitions or other corporate transactions. The conversion of any convertible bonds into our capital stock, or the issuance of our capital stock in connection with corporate transactions, would dilute your ownership interest.
The right of holders of ADSs to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, especially with respect to offerings other than distributions of cash, which may cause dilution to their holdings and holders of ADSs may not receive cash dividends if it is impractical to make them available to them.
We may, from time to time, distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make any such rights available to the ADS holders in the United States