Paytm allots stock worth Rs 189 Cr to former and existing staff before IPO

Digital payments firm Paytm has allotted equity shares to its 166 former and current employees following the exercise of ESOPs held by them.

According to Paytm’s regulatory filings, the company has allotted 10,11,582 equity shares to the employees who have submitted the application for exercising the options vested to them under ESOP Scheme 2008 and ESOP Scheme 2019.

Top beneficiaries of stock allotment

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, Paytm has allotted shares worth Rs 189 crore to 166 employees.

Amit Nayyar, Abhishek Bagga, Nikhil Saigal, Charumitra Pujari and Nilesh Kumar Singh are the top five beneficiaries of the latest allotment. It’s worth mentioning that Amit Nayyar, President at Paytm, had recently resigned from the company and is currently on a notice period.

A look at Paytm’s total ESOP pool size and its worth

The development comes at a time when Paytm has been planning to seek approval from its shareholders to increase its ESOP pool from 2,40,94,280 equity options to 61,094,280 equity options under the One97 Employees Stock Option Scheme 2019.

According to Fintrackr’s estimates, Paytm’s ESOP pool was valued at around Rs 4,520 crore ($604 million)during its expansion in April, making it one of the largest ESOP pools among Indian startups. If approved, the value of the increased ESOP pool will be more than Rs 11,480 crore $1.5 billion.

As per media reports, Paytm’s parent One97 Communications will also seek approval of shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting on September 2 to give additional charge of chief executive officer to the company’s Managing Director Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

More conversions coming up 

According to Entrackr sources, Paytm may offer similar grants to more employees in the coming weeks. An ET report also said that around 300 employees may receive approval from the company to convert their ESOP into equity shares.

Last month, Paytm had filed its draft red herring prospectus or DRHP with SEBI for its Rs 16,600 crore or $2.2 billion IPO which would make this India’s biggest IPO ever. The company is likely to hit the markets  by October or early November.