IPO-bound Reliance Retail grants ESOPs worth Rs 351 crore to top employees

The Mukesh Ambani-owned company is cemented as the largest retailer in India and has 304 million registered customers

Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has awarded employee stock option plans (ESOPs) valued at Rs 351 crore to 15 senior executives in the previous financial year, according to a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), The Economic Times reported on Thursday.

ESOPs are understood as an incentive to allow employees to purchase company shares at a fixed price.

The IPO or initial public offering-bound retail arm issued 4.417 million shares, each with a face value of 10, at a price of Rs 796.5 per share to its top executives.

With the public eagerly diving into the ongoing IPO frenzy, the public issue of Reliance Retail, is expected to attract considerable attention and investment. The Mukesh Ambani-owned company is cemented as the largest retailer in India. It has 304 million registered customers and recorded more than 1.06 billion footfalls across all its stores in the financial year 2023-24, according to the company website.

The company deals in a range of products from: grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle and pharma.

Notably, Reliance Industries is set to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, possibly handing out a timeline for the IPOs of its retail and telecommunications arm. According to experts, the virtual AGM may focus on several key areas including new energy projects aimed at transitioning to green energy and plans for entering the quick commerce sector.

This event will also mark the company’s first AGM since the induction of the Ambani family’s next generation into the company in non-executive capacity. Ambani’s children — Isha, Akash, and Anant — were appointed non-executive directors in December 2023.

Within the grocery segment, the company operates Smart Bazaar, Smart Point, Shree Kannan Departmental, 7-Eleven, Freshpik, Fresh Signature, among others.

It operates in pharma retail through Netmeds, has a presence in the beauty space with Tira, operates Reliance Digital and MyJio Store formats for consumer electronics, and owns Trends, Reliance Jewels, Hamleys among a series of retail chains. In Q1FY25, Reliance Retail posted an almost flat net profit at Rs 2,453 crore.