It doesn't seem right that in the event of a merger you would be...

It doesn't seem right that in the event of a merger you would be forced to exercise option at full price years in advance.
Looking the the recent MRO/UKL merger (this last week) :
"Monaro will also make private offers to
exchange Uranium King’s unlisted options at the ratio of 0.48 Monaro shares for each
Uranium King option."
So it looks like a conversion from UKL options to MRO shares at ratio appropriate to market prices at the time, with no exercise payment required.
Admittedly these are for 2m unlisted options...maybe different situation.