Flipkart staff to get PhonePe buyback Esop payout this month

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Flipkart employees will finally receive a one-time cash payout from a $700-million employee stock option (Esop) buyback that the ecommerce major is facilitating as part of its separation from payments firm PhonePe this month, people aware of the matter told ET. “The payouts to employees will be made by July 31… We made this communication to our employees previously,” a Flipkart spokesperson told ET over email without sharing further details. Eligible former and current employees will receive $43.67, or about Rs 3,615 for each unit of Esop they hold in Flipkart as compensation for the loss of PhonePe’s value in the stock option as a result of its separation, the company had said in a recent internal note.

ET has seen a copy of the note. The payout will be “subject to applicable withholding taxes and other tax rules in respective countries of various Esop holders”, it said. Legal formalities for the payout are currently underway, it added.ET was the first to report in November last year about Flipkart’s $700-million Esop buyback – the largest for a new-age internet firm in the country.

The buyback is part of a $1.5-2 billion fundraise by PhonePe in a round led by Flipkart and its largest shareholder US retailing giant Walmart. So far, PhonePe has raised about $850 million as part of the round. Out of that, private equity major General Atlantic has pumped in nearly $550 million, valuing the digital payments firm at $12 billion.