Zomato, the online food aggregator, has allotted 4,65,51,600 equity shares having a face value of Rs 1 each, to its employees and staff of its subsidiaries.
In 2018, the Company had allotted over Rs 63 lakh worth of stock options from its employee stock option plan or ESOP pool. Three years later, in 2021, it allotted Rs 4.02 crore worth of shares. That means, in total, the Company has allotted Rs 792.02 crore worth of shares till now.
Now that the lock-in period of a year has expired, Zomato shares are under selling pressure, with promoters, staff, founders and others associated with the Company selling off their shares. Just a year after the IPO, the lock-in period of about 613 crore shares accounting for about 78 per cent stake of the Company has expired. On 27 July, the share prices of Zomato tumbled as low as Rs 40.60 apiece, causing uncertainty amongst investors. With the Company recently acquiring Blinkit, the problems of investors have multiplied.
The shares did recover soon after and are now trading at over Rs 43.
Zomato has allotted Rs 4.65 crore equity shares from its ESOP (employee stock option plan) pool at an exercise price of one rupee.
The Company has informed the stock exchange that its board of directors has given approval to the allotment of “4,65,51,600 equity shares having a face value of Rs 1 each, as fully paid-up” to employees “upon exercise of vested options”.
