ixigo Board Approves New ESOP Scheme With 1.2 Cr Stock Options

Online travel aggregator ixigo’s board has approved formulation, adoption and implementation of Le Travenues Technology – Employees Stock Option Scheme 2025 (ESOS 2025) with a pool size of 1.2 Cr stock options.

In an exchange filing on Saturday (March 8), Ixigo parent Le Travenues Technology said that its board also approved granting of options equal to or more than 1% of the issued capital of the company to cofounders Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar under the new ESOS plan.

Besides, the board approved  extension of the benefits of ESOS 2025 to employees of subsidiaries and holding companies of the company. ixigo will now seek the approval of its shareholders for the actions approved by the board.

As per the filing, the 1.2 Cr stock options under ESOS 2025 will convert into an equivalent number of equity shares upon vesting and exercise. The exercise price for the options would be INR 93 per option, which was the IPO price for the company’s shares.

“ESOS 2025 is designed exclusively to reward and compensate key executives for their exceptional contributions to the company’s success… The vesting terms are structured to ensure that the options will vest only once the company’s valuation achieves significant growth, thereby enhancing shareholder value,” it said.

The first 50% of the granted options will vest upon the company’s market capitalisation reaching INR 9,000 Cr at any time after the grant date but no later than 33 months from the said date.

If the market capitalisation fails to reach INR 9,000 Cr within 33 months from the grant date, it will automatically lapse and will be added back for regrant.

“The second vesting will be for the remaining 50% of the options granted, which will occur upon the company’s market capitalisation reaching INR 14,000 Cr at any time after the grant date but no later than 69 months from the said date,” it added.

In a separate exchange filing on Saturday, ixigo said it approved the grant of 1,56,232 stock options under ESOS schemes 2012, 2016 and 2020.

The options have been granted at an exercise price of INR 93 per option and will be vested over a period of four years in an equal installment of 25% each.

Founded in 2007 by Kumar and Bajpai, ixigo allows users to book flights, trains, and bus tickets, and hotel and holiday packages. The company went public in June last year, with the shares listing at a premium of 48.5% to the issue price of INR 93 on the NSE.

On the financial front, the company’s net profit slumped 49% to INR 15.54 Cr in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 30.65 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, revenue from operations surged 42% on a year-on-year basis to INR 241.76 Cr.

Shares of the company were trading 3.32% lower at INR 129.55 on the BSE at 12:48 PM on Monday (March10).