Zomato's New ESOP Plan Approved But 25% Investors Voted Against It
The new ESOP pool will have about 18.26 crore shares, which would be worth around Rs 3,800 crore, as per current market price.
Zomato Ltd.'s plan to set up a new employee stock option pool received approval, albeit with some pushback. The company's stock option plan for employees of the main company and its subsidiaries received approval, with 75% investors voting for it, but 25% voting against it.
The new ESOP pool will have about 18.26 crore shares, which at a current market price of roughly Rs 208 apiece, are worth around Rs 3,800 crore.
It was primarily Zomato's institutional shareholders that voted against the resolution, with about 32% opposing votes cast. While information on who voted how isn't released, Zomato's institutional backers include Fidelity Investments, Temasek, CPPIB and Vanguard.
In its fourth quarter earnings and shareholders' letter, Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal had said a new ESOP pool of 2% of its equity will be proposed.
"ESOPs are important to help build a culture of long-term thinking and innovation and create a ‘founder mindset’ amongst senior employees, which ultimately drives the right outcomes for long-term shareholder value creation," he had said.
This new ESOP pool should be sufficient for the company for at least the next five years, Goyal had said. "We look forward to getting support from our shareholders here."
