Asianet News rolls out employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)

Asianet News Media and Entertainment , a leader in the Indian media industry, has rolled out its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The group has multi-media presence across the country in multiple languages via its Digital platform (asianetnews.com, indigomusic.com), TV channels (Asianet News and Asianet Suvarna News), Print publication (Kannada Prabha) and Radio channels (Radio Indigo).

The stock option plan will be extended to Asianet’s long-term employees as well as new team members who’ve displayed exceptional performance. The announcement comes on the heels of the company rapidly expanding its footprint nationally after dominating the regional markets for several years.

Commenting on the thought process behind this initiative, Ruchir Khanna, Chief Operating Officer at Asianet News, said, “ESOPs form a critical part of employee value proposition and we want to reward those going over and above their responsibilities. The policy has already been initiated and the ESOPs have been granted to the employees who have been an important part of Asianet’s growth. This shall remain open to other employees falling in the eligibility criteria in the future as well”

Samarth Sharma, chief business officer at Asianet News, added “It is a matter of great privilege and pride that we are able to recognize our team-members, who have been a part of our business growth story, as shareholders. This initiative should provide a fillip to our employees to work towards a common goal. We’d also like to thank our client and agency partners besides our strategic partners for their support in our growth.”

Besides strengthening its Indian language footprint across the country, Asianet News has also made significant investments in English and Hindi to extend its dominance pan-India and the newly released ESOP plan should act as a potent force to attract and retain talent for the organization.

(We got this information in a press release).