One97 Communications Ltd, which runs digital payments firm Paytm, has allotted shares to 166 former and current employees ahead of its planned public listing, according to the company’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs.
More than 1.01 million shares have been allotted to these individuals, the filings showed.
The list includes Paytm’s president Amit Nayyar who was heading the financial services division at the Noida-based startup. Nayyar, who resigned in June this year and is currently serving his notice period, has been allotted 116,000 shares at an exercise price of ₹10.5 lakh.
According to the company’s draft red herring prospectus, Paytm had a total paid-up share capital of 606,941,722 shares at a face value of ₹1 each.
The share allotment plan comes at a time when Paytm plans to alter One 97 Employee Stock Option Scheme 2019 by more than doubling the existing ESOP pool from 24,094,280 equity options to 61,094,280 equity options at a face value of ₹1 each. It is expected to seek shareholder approval on the changes to its ESOP pool at an extraordinary general meeting slated for 2 September.
“At present, there would be roughly 1,000 employees at Paytm who have vested ESOPs in the company with approximately 14 million options vested,” a person aware of the discussions said on condition of anonymity.
A Paytm spokesperson declined comment.
Mint earlier reported that Paytm was also in talks with five lenders to help employees borrow money to exercise their stock options before the public listing. The company wanted to help employees pay for buying their vested options and make tax payments if required, and was in talks with IIFL, ICICI Securities, and Edelweiss Capital. Paytm is expected to facilitate a loan size of around ₹100 crore towards this end, helping 300-500 employees who hold stock options, Mint reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Paytm is currently awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its draft prospectus. It is expected to list on the Indian exchanges by November.
This article was first published on livemint.com