Zomato Allots 47.75 Cr Equity Shares To Foodie Bay Employees ESOP Trust

Zomato has allotted 47.75 Cr equity shares under various employee stock option plans (ESOPs) to Foodie Bay Employees ESOP Trust, an employee welfare trust set up by the foodtech company.

In an exchange filing on Monday (December 2), the Deepinder Goyal-led company said that its board approved the issuance and allotment of 47.75 Cr equity shares with a face value of INR 1 each under Zomato ESOP 2018, ESOP 2021, ESOP 2022 and ESOP 2024 schemes..

At 12:16 PM, shares of Zomato were trading at INR 279.65 apiece on BSE, down 1% from the previous close. As per the stock’s last close, the newly-allotted shares are worth INR 13,489.3 Cr (around $1.60 Bn).

With the allotment of fresh equity shares to Foodie Bay Employees ESOP Trust, the company’s issued, subscribed and paid-up equity share capital has increased to INR 965.03 Cr from INR 917.28 Cr earlier, the filing showed.

A number of new-age tech companies — including the likes of Delhivery, Nykaa, ixigo and ideaForge among others — have issued ESOPs this year as part of their efforts to reward employees. 

Last month, logistics major Delhivery expanded its ESOP pool with allotment of 73K stock options while travel tech company ixigo granted 17.57 Lakh stock options.

Zomato’s ESOP announcement comes just days after the company raised INR 8,500 Cr  through qualified institutions placement, its first major fundraise since its 2021 IPO. 

According to CEO Deepinder Goyal, Zomato needed to enhance its cash balance “given the competitive landscape and the much larger scale of our business today.”

The expansion of Blinkit, the quick commerce arm of Zomato, is expected to take a toll on the company’s financial health in near term. This was evident from Zomato’s Q2 FY25 performance, with the foodtech company reporting a 30% decline in its net profit on a sequential basis to INR 176 Cr, primarily due to increase in expenses on Blinkit’s expansion spree.

Operating revenue grew 14% quarter-on-quarter to INR 4,799 Cr in Q2 FY24, driven by strong performance across its food delivery and quick commerce verticals.

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