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P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai , March 3

IN a bid to hold on to talented employees and get them to partner the company's vision of clocking $1 billion by 2009, Lupin Ltd has introduced an ESOP package covering about 30 per cent of its managerial staff.

"The company is in a growth phase and we can achieve the target set for us only through the strong commitment of people. By giving stock options, employees will realise that the higher they grow, the greater the value they build for themselves," the Chairman, Dr Desh Bandhu Gupta, told Business Line.

Under the label `Partners in Progress,' the employee stock option plan package covers 175 managers.

The company has granted options for 4,01,411 shares, amounting to 1 per cent of its equity for the ESOP; the price has been decided at Rs 567.35.

At present, promoters hold about 52.5 per cent equity in the company.

Elaborating on the timing and need for ESOPs, Dr Gupta said: "There is a shortage of people and one has to hold on to (intellectual property) IP-intensive people."

Growth in the US market will be the prime driver in the $1-billion growth plan, he said.

The plan is for the US to clock $100 million in four years.

The company is also looking at an acquisition in the US in two years. Export plans are being formalised for Europe too, with Lupin expected to foray into this market in the forthcoming fiscal, he said. The company could raise finances if necessary to fund these plans.

Lupin's ESOP package is in line with global research-oriented companies, said Mr Divakar Kaza, Lupin's President (Human Resources). The company had appointed Ernst and Young to design its package. The ESOP package is higher and has wider coverage than those offered in other pharma companies, he claimed.

Other companies than have offered ESOPs in the drug industry include Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's, an analyst said.

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