Swiggy is Prohibited by a B'luru Court from Alienating a Terminated Executive's ESOP

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Nov 12, 2024 — 3 min read

Bengaluru Court Restricts Swiggy Over Ex-Employee's ESOP Rights

Until the next hearing, the court barred Swiggy from alienating 24 of a former executive's exercised stock options and 185.454 vested and unexercised stock options. Arun Cyril, Swiggy's former assistant vice president, contested his "illegal" dismissal from the foodtech firm and the ESOPs that followed. Swiggy's initial public offering (IPO) ended on 8 November 2024, with the public offering being oversubscribed 3.59 times on the last day.

For the time being, until the next hearing, a Bengaluru civil court has barred foodtech giant Swiggy from alienating or "creating any charge" on more than 200 stock options owned by a former executive who was fired by the business earlier this year. According to the court's order dated November 7, defendant No. 1 company (Swiggy) and its directors are prohibited from establishing any charges, interests, or alienating 185.454 vested and unexercised stock options and 24 exercised stock options of the plaintiff until the next hearing date. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for November 23 by the court.

What Lead to Court’s Intervention?

Arun Cyril, the former assistant vice president of Swiggy's contact centre operations, petitioned for the directives earlier this year.

Cyril, who spent over ten years working at the foodtech major from 2015 to 2024, contested his "illegal" layoff and the company's subsequent cancellation of his employee stock option plans (ESOPs) in the plea. Swiggy and its rival Zomato were found guilty of violating antitrust regulations and giving preference to specific restaurant chains listed on their platforms, according to a report by a media house earlier today.

In addition, on November 6, the Delhi High Court sent notice to Swiggy and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding a plea submitted by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), contesting the exclusion of the trade association from a confidentiality ring established by the watchdog to investigate purportedly anti-competitive actions by Zomato and Swiggy.

Swiggy’s IPO

Among all of these, Swiggy's initial public offering (IPO) closed recently, with the deal oversubscribed by 3.59X on the last day. In contrast to the 16.01 Cr shares available, the IPO got bids for 57.53 Cr shares, with qualified institutional investors (QIBs) accounting for the majority of these bids. The IPO consists of an offer for sale (OFS) of 17.5 crore shares and a new issue of shares valued at INR 4,499 crore. For the public offering, Swiggy has specified a price range of INR 371 to INR 390 per share. On November 5, before the issue was made available for public subscription, Swiggy obtained INR 5,085 Cr from anchor investors. On November 13, its shares are now scheduled to go public.

Swiggy's first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year 2024–25 (FY25) saw a combined net loss of INR 611 Cr, up more than 8% year over year (YoY). During the reviewed quarter, operating revenue increased 35% year over year to INR 3,222.2 Cr.