OYO offers to buy shares worth Rs 500 mn from employees, ex-workers in Jan

Hospitality firm OYO Friday said it has launched an offer to around 250 of its existing and ex-employees to liquidate their stock options which would have a realisable value of around Rs 400-500 million in January 2019.

This is being executed through a secondary acquisition programme led by one of our existing investors, and our board members are very supportive of this initiative, OYO said in a statement.

The company expects the total ESOP liquidity programme to be worth around $150 - $200 million over the next few years, it added.

OYO is going to implement a strong multi-year staggered liquidity schedule for its ESOP holders by way of facilitating the secondary sale or through other liquidity schemes, it added.

Commenting on the development, OYO Hotels & Homes CHRO Dinesh Ramamurthi said: "Today, we are announcing this programme for eligible employees. This is part of our continuing efforts to express our gratitude and reward our employees for their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to the company and its mission."

This ESOP secondary sale enabled OYO employees (past and current) to liquidate their vested ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) units and create wealth that will help fulfil their dreams and responsibilities, while still keep a majority of their net worth tied to the company, he added.

The eligibility for awarding ESOPs was calculated based on the individual's role, contribution and long-term potential, the statement said.

OYO is currently present in over 500 cities across seven countries - India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, UK, UAE and Indonesia.