Exclusive: Vijay Shekhar Sharma gets new stock options ahead of Paytm IPO

Bengaluru | Mumbai: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is getting a significant amount of new stock options in One97 Communications, a move that will increase his stake in the parent company by 2-3%, people close to the matter said.

This comes ahead of the $2.2-billion Paytm IPO, billed as the biggest in India in at least a decade.

The digital payments firm recently more than doubled its ESOP pool to around 61,094,280 equity options of face value Re 1 each from 24,094,280 equity options. Sources said a “significant chunk” of these new stock options have been allotted to Sharma. “They sought the shareholder approval for ESOP pool expansion in August, which was approved earlier this month. Almost half of it has been allocated to Sharma,” a source said.