ESOP Implementation & ESOP Evaluation

Employee Stock Ownership Plans  Or ESOP Evaluation Service

There are a variety of reasons why a company’s employees are given the choice of an ESOP. Here’s all you need to know about it, including whether or not you should go for it. An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a type of retirement plan in which a business contributes shares to the plan for the benefit of its workers. Employee stock option plans, which provide employees with the right to acquire their company’s shares at a certain price after a defined period of time, should not be confused with this sort of plan. You’ve probably heard stories about Infosys drivers, office assistants, and secretaries earning millions. This might be made feasible through a mechanism that allows such stakeholders to become shareholders of the firm by providing them what is commonly known as an ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan or Employee Stock Ownership Plan). In this section, we will discuss the many features of Employee Stock Option Plans.

What is ESOP?

The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is a scheme in which workers of a firm are typically granted the ability to purchase shares of the company for which they work. In some circumstances, the foreign holding/subsidiary business also gives similar options to the Indian subsidiary/holding company’s workers. Employees are awarded some rights, known as stock options, under such a plan to obtain shares of the firm for free or at a reduced rate, at a specified price or a price to be established using a predetermined process, as opposed to the possible market pricing. ESOP evaluation is a tedious process in India, but by utilizing advanced tools and softwares, it can be done easily with the help of consultancy firms. ESOP evaluation service is provided by various Consultancies in India.  Existing investors, notably Promoters, are concerned about dilution. When a business allows new main Shares, this is known as dilution. Dilution can happen in two ways with ESOPs: In the form of the total value of Investors’ holdings, if new shares are issued at a discount to the current market price; and in the form of existing Investors’ per cent ownership at the time of issuing of new equity shares on the execution of Options. Companies can, however, protect their shareholders from both types of dilution by properly structuring their ESOP plans. 

The following are some of the ways that businesses can consider for esop services:

1. Protection against dilution in per cent holdings: There are two approaches to safeguard existing per cent holdings against dilution:

• Using secondary Shares bought via the secondary market or current shareholders
• Implementing the cash-settled stock options plan (“Phantom Plan”).

Employees are not given shares under the Phantom Plan. Cash is used to settle all vested Options. Because no new shares are issued, the existing shareholding per cent remains unchanged, avoiding dilution. Another approach to minimize dilution is to use secondary Shares in the ESOP plan. A firm can utilize this method to get existing shares from the market (in the case of publicly traded companies) or current shareholders (for example, non-Promoter shareholders) and transfer them to workers when they execute Options. Dilution is also avoided in this scenario since no new shares are issued, but the existing non-promoter ownership is reshuffled. Setting up a Trust to enable the purchase and transfer of shares is one way to go down this path.

1. Protection against value dilution: Value dilution in the hands of investors can be avoided by using one of the following methods:

Issuing ESOPs with performance-linked vesting requirements; and Issuing ESOPs at Fair Market Value (“FMV”). When a firm offers ESOPs at FMV, it receives the same amount of cash as if the shares were sold to any investor or the general public. As a result, there is no dilution of the current value.

To summarise, firms can meet the dilution restriction with proper mechanisms while adopting the ESOP system. If the Promoters think that the business’s growth cannot be achieved without the retention of key personnel, they must decide whether they want to control 100% of a low-growth firm or 95% of a high-growth company.

Contract Differences

Employee stock options may differ from standardised, exchange-traded options in the following ways:

• The exercise price is non-standardized and is often the current price of the business shares at the time of issuing. A methodology, such as sampling the lowest closing price across a 30-day interval on each side of the grant date, may also be utilised. Choosing an exercise at the grant date equal to the average price for the following sixty days after the grant, on the other hand, eliminates the possibility of back dating and spring loading. Often, an employee will have ESOs that may be exercised at different periods and at varying costs.
• Quantity: Standardized stock options are normally sold in lots of 100 shares. ESOs often include a non-standardized quantity.
• Vesting: If an employee is first issued X number of shares, all X may not vest.
• Some or all of the options may require the employee to remain with the firm for a set number of years before “vesting,” or selling or transferring the shares or options. Vesting can occur all at once (“cliff vesting”) or over time (“graded vesting”), and it can be “uniform” (e.g., 20% of the options vest each year for 5 years) or “non-uniform” (e.g. 20 percent , 30 percent and 50 percent of the options vest each year for the next three years).
• Some or all of the alternatives may necessitate the occurrence of a certain event, such as an initial public offering of shares or a change in the company’s control.
• The timetable may alter if the person or the organisation meets particular performance or profit targets (e.g., a 10 percent increase in sales).
•  Some solutions may be time-vesting but not performance-vesting. This might result in an uncertain legal scenario regarding the status of vesting and the value of options in general.
• ESOs for private corporations are typically not liquid since they are not publicly traded.
• Duration (Expiration): employee stock option scheme frequently have a maximum maturity that greatly outstrips that of conventional options. ESOs typically have a maximum maturity of 10 years from the date of issue, whereas standardised options typically have a maximum maturity of roughly 30 months. It is fairly unusual for the expiration date of the ESOs to be pushed up to 90 days if the holder of the ESOs quits the firm.
• Non-transferable: With a few exceptions, employee stock option scheme are not transferable and must be exercised or allowed to expire worthless on the expiration date. There is a significant possibility (possibly 50%) that when the ESOs are granted, the options will be worthless at expiration.  This should encourage holders to mitigate risk by selling exchange-traded call options. In fact, it is the only effective approach to control speculative ESOs and SARs. Wealth managers often suggest early exercise of ESOs and SARs, followed by a sale and diversification.
• Over the counter: With the exception of exchange traded options, employee stock option scheme are a private contract between the employer and the employee. As a result, those two parties are in charge of organising the clearing and settlement of any transactions that arise as a result of the contract. Furthermore, the employee is exposed to the company’s credit risk. If the corporation is unable to deliver the shares against the option contract upon exercise for any reason, the employee may have limited recourse. The Options Clearing Corp. guarantees the fulfilment of option contracts for exchange-traded options.
• Tax considerations: The tax status of ESOs differs depending on whether they are used as compensation or not. These differ according on the nation of issuance, but in general, ESOs are tax-advantaged as compared to standardised options. See the list below.
• Employee stock options in the United States come in two varieties, which differ principally in their tax status. They might be either:
• Stock options with a financial incentive (ISOs)
• Non-qualified stock options (NQSOs or NSOs)
• There are several recognised tax and employee share programmes in the United Kingdom,[10] including Enterprise Management Incentives (EMIs).
• (Employee share programmes that are not authorised by the UK government do not qualify for the same tax benefits.)

ESOP Services for private companies

ESOP for private companies is like a golden egg, even the employees at junior posts can get benefits from the employee stock option scheme. Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) is a mode of employee benefit program and success. It is offered to employees by the corporation to encourage employee ownership of the company. Employees receive low-cost stock options in the firm. Any firm can issue Employee Stock Option Plans.

ESOP Valuation Services by MUDS Management

MUDS specialises in all areas of the employee stock option scheme or ESOP for private companies and public firms in India and across the world. MUDS stresses the financial aspects of ESOPs while integrating the many various factors required to build successful Employee Stock Option Plans for customers in a wide range of sectors. The firm has prior expertise in employee stock option scheme preliminary study, plan and financial transaction design, execution, ESOP evaluation, financing, and operation. Leading ESOP practitioners also give services through connected offices. This synergistic strategy enables clients to acquire competent expert support at a reduced cost.