Eternal rolls out fresh ESOP grants worth Rs 167 Cr

Eternal Limited, the parent of Zomato, has approved a fresh grant of 74.18 lakh employee stock options (ESOPs), extending its multi-year practice of using equity incentives to retain and reward talent.

The company’s compensation committee approved the grant, allocating stock options across three ESOP schemes introduced over the past decade, reflecting different phases of its expansion.

At Eternal Limited’s current share price of Rs 224.7, the ESOP grant is valued at approximately Rs 167 crore.

The move follows a similar issuance in October last year, when the company granted 64.13 lakh stock options to employees.

The bulk of the allocation is skewed towards newer plans. Of the total options granted, 56.16 lakh were issued under ESOP 2024, followed by 18.02 lakh under ESOP 2021, while the legacy ESOP 2014 accounted for a negligible portion.

Each stock option is convertible into one equity share with a face value of Rs 1, with an exercise price set at Rs 1 per option, effectively making the grants deeply discounted and aligned with long-term value creation.

A continuation of aggressive ESOP use

The latest issuance underscores Eternal’s continued reliance on stock-based compensation, a strategy it has leaned on heavily since its early startup years.

• ESOP 2014 (when the company was called Foodiebay): One of the earliest broad-based employee stock option plans, rolled out when the company was still scaling its core food delivery business. It helped build early employee wealth, particularly around the IPO phase.

• ESOP 2021: Introduced around the time of its public listing, this plan expanded the ESOP pool significantly, aligning employee incentives with public market performance and post-IPO growth ambitions.

• ESOP 2024: A newer plan reflecting the company’s evolving structure, especially after diversifying into quick commerce and other verticals, aimed at retaining senior leadership and critical hires.

The structure of the schemes allows employees to exercise options over a long horizon, up to 10 years from vesting, providing flexibility while tying rewards to sustained company performance.

In April 2025, the company had allotted 2.17 lakh stock options under ESOP 2021 and 158 options under ESOP 2014, valued at approximately ₹4.42 crore based on Zomato’s opening stock price of ₹203 at the time.

Talent retention in a competitive phase

The fresh ESOP grant comes at a time when food delivery and quick commerce players are locked in a battle for both market share and managerial talent. Equity-heavy compensation has emerged as a key lever, particularly as companies balance profitability pressures with expansion.

For Eternal, which has undergone a corporate rebranding and structural shifts in recent years, ESOPs remain central to its compensation philosophy, upside participation while conserving cash. This allows employees to share in the future financial success of the company without the company needing to pay out immediately.