Nykaa allots shares worth Rs 64.3 Cr under ESOP

Omnichannel beauty and lifestyle retailer Nykaa, which is planning an IPO by the end of the year, has allotted shares worth Rs 64.3 crore under ESOP, regulatory filings show.

The company has passed a special resolution to allot 100,000 optionally convertible preference shares worth Rs 60.6 crore. As per the resolution, each share will be converted into 1 equity share if an employee stays with the company till April 1, 2024.

Further, Nykaa has allotted 6,120 equity shares to senior employees upon vesting of their ESOP option. The Falguni Nayar-led company has provided ESOP worth Rs 3.03 crore to its CFO Sachin Parikh and Rs 41.2 lakh worth to AVP Atoshi Chakraborty. Additionally, Isha Kakkar, a senior manager and Riah Daswani, marketing manager at the company will receive ESOP worth Rs 18.8 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, respectively.

The development comes at a time when Nykaa has witnessed a couple of secondary transactions in the company. In November, Boston-based Fidelity Management & Research Company had made an undisclosed investment in Nykaa in which the Mumbai-based unicorn provided a partial exit for its early investors. Previously, Bollywood star Alia Bhatt had also invested an undisclosed amount in Nykaa through a secondary transaction.

The back to back secondary transactions and ESOP allotment reflects a good sign for Nykaa which had to suspend its operations temporarily and announced a delay in payments to vendors during nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company soon resumed its operations with an emphasis on essential personal care and hygiene products like handwashes, masks and hand sanitizers. 

Besides its core business, Nykaa has also been pushing women-focused content on wellness, fitness and DIY videos. 

In 2018, Nayar had anticipated that the company would go IPO in 2020. However, the ongoing pandemic has forced it to postpone the plan by a year. According to a media report, Nykaa has been planning to list the company by the end of the current calendar year or by early 2022 at a valuation of over $3 billion.

One of the rarest profitable startups in India, Nykaa claims to have recorded revenue of Rs 1,860 crore for the year ending March 2020 with an EBIDTA of Rs 94 crore. The company further targets to grow at around 40% on a consolidated basis in FY21.