IPO-bound digital payments firm Paytm has allotted 10,11,582 equity shares to employees who have opted to exercise their options under employee stock ownership plans, the company said in its filings.

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The company had recently offered s (ESOPs) to 166 of its current and former employees.

According to a report in The Economic Times, the allotted shares are worth around Rs 182 crore.

The top beneficiaries of this allotment include its President Amit Nayyar, who resigned in June and is currently serving his notice period with the company.

Recent reports also said that around 300 employees were looking to convert their ESOPs to shares before the Noida-based company’s planned initial public offering worth $2.2 billion in November.

ESOPs have been used effectively in the startup ecosystem to attract and retain talent in high executive positions. The best startups emerging from India like Zomato, PhonePe, Udaan, Razorpay, Acko and Cred have all granted ESOPs to their employees.

Earlier this month, One97, which owns Paytm, issued a notice to its shareholders about expanding its ESOP pool. Paytm will be holding an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on September 2 to seek shareholders’ approval 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.

In its latest valuation, Paytm was worth around $16 billion and its shares were valued at Rs 18,000 apiece, according to the ET report. After the 1:10 stock split, the share price will be Rs 1800 apiece, the report said, adding that for every ESOP granted, employees will get 10 shares on exercising the option and converting them to shares.

Employees are expected to pay a tax for converting their stock options into shares, which will be applicable to the difference between the current share price and the price at which Paytm shares were granted to the employees.

Media reports also suggest that shareholders will also discuss handing over additional responsibilities of CEO to current Managing Director Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

(Edited by : Santosh Nair)

First Published:Aug 26, 2021 1:56 PM IST