Swiggy's top executives awarded ₹2,240 crore in ESOPs before IPO
Food delivery platform Swiggy has granted stock options worth approximately $200 million (around ₹2,240 crore) to its co-founder and group CEO Sriharsha Majety and other top executives. The move aims to incentivize its leadership team ahead of the company's initial public offering (IPO) later this year. The details were disclosed in the company's updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
Other Swiggy executives also receive ESOPs
The ESOP beneficiaries include co-founders Nandan Reddy and Phani Kishan, food marketplace CEO Rohit Kapoor, Swiggy Instamart head Amitesh Jha, CFO Rahul Bothra, HR head Girish Menon and CTO Madhusudhan Rao. These top executives have been given additional shares along with Majety as part of the pre-IPO strategy. The move is expected to boost their ownership stakes in the company ahead of its public listing.
Majety's stake in Swiggy increases
Majety, who owned some 6.23% of Swiggy when it filed the draft papers, has been given an additional 2.3% stake in the company, The Arc reported. The increase in ownership stakes for top executives is viewed as a reward for their efforts in scaling up the company and is likely to lead to massive wealth creation post-IPO.
Swiggy's IPO strategy mirrors Zomato's approach
Swiggy's pre-IPO strategy of upping ownership stakes for its top executives isn't new. In 2021, when rival food delivery platform Zomato was preparing to go public, co-founder Deepinder Goyal was given an additional 4% stake in the company. The approach is viewed as a means to incentivize employees to outdo themselves by giving them a bigger stake in the company's success.
Swiggy's IPO journey and market performance
Swiggy's shareholders have greenlit an expansion of the company's Initial Public Offering (IPO) size from ₹3,750 crore to ₹5,000 crore (fresh issue). The Offer for Sale (OFS) component of the IPO remains unchanged at ₹6,664 crore. Swiggy's IPO is poised to be one of the largest among new-age technology companies, potentially reaching a valuation of ₹11,664 crore. For FY2024, the company reported a 44% reduction in losses to ₹2,350 crore and a 36% increase in operating revenue to ₹11,247.3 crore.
