More than 500 employees and ex-employees of IPO-bound OYO have exercised their stock options grants to purchase over three crore shares of the company, according to regulatory filings by the hospitality chain.

These shares have been purchased by the employees and alumni by exercising their vested Employees’ Stock Option Plan (ESOPs).

OYO had offered deeply discounted ESOPs to both current and former employees when the impact of Covid-19 led to pay cuts and furloughs.

On the basis of the last valuation of OYO of $9.6 billion when the company raised $5 million from tech-giant Microsoft in August last year, the total value of the shares purchased by the current and former employees of Oravel Stays Ltd, which runs OYO, would be around Rs 330 crore. When contacted, an OYO spokesperson declined to comment.

OYO had expanded its ESOP pool by 41 per cent and it is estimated that around 80 per cent of current employees at OYO have been granted ESOPs.