Paytm employees rake in Rs 300 crore through ESOPs sale

Fintech major Paytm today said some of its former and present employees have offloaded their stock in the company, raking in about Rs 300 crore from the secondary share sale.

The company said the completion of secondary share sale valued the company at close to USD 10 billion.

"The secondary sale gave an opportunity to existing and former Paytm employees to liquidate their vested ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) units and create wealth," Paytm said in a statement.

It also offered various family offices and few western long-hold funds to gain entry with this round, it added without divulging further details.

Over 200 former and existing Paytm employees across various business verticals including business, technology, product, administration, human resources, sales and finance have?liquidated?their shares through secondary sale till date, Paytm said.

ESOPs encourage employees to acquire stocks or ownership in the company.

The Alibaba and SoftBank-backed firm said it calculates the eligibility for awarding ESOPs based on an individual's contribution to the company, long-term potential and duration of employment.

In May last year, Paytm had raised USD 1.4 billion from SoftBank, which valued the company at USD 7 billion at that time.

Paytm has been one of the prominent beneficiaries of the government's move to scrap high denomination notes in 2016. It has seen manifold growth in transactions on its platform as well as expansion in number of users since then.

In a separate statement, Paytm said it has lauched a new mobile games platform -- Gamepind -- in collaboration with AGTech Holdings from China.

Gamepind will offer a host of social and casual games and will also act as a marketing and promotional platform for merchants to engage with consumers.

Paytm holds 55 per cent, while AGTech holds the remaining 45 per cent in the joint venture entity that will operate Gamepind.

The JV aims to tap into the significant potential of the fast-growing mobile entertainment market in the country using Gamepind that will be available through the Paytm app as well as an independent app.