Naver grants incentive stock options to employees

Korean internet and search giant Naver said it will grant stock options to its employees to purchase up to a total of 1.06 million stocks, the company said in its regulatory filing issued Wednesday late afternoon.

The stocks that will go to the company’s employees account for 0.65 percent of Naver’s stocks, the company added.

The stocks will be provided to 3,084 workers at a price of 186,000 ($153) won per share. The options are exercisable for a period of five years starting in 2023.

For those who worked for three years or more at the company, Naver will offer 907,000 stock options. The remaining 162,869 stocks will be available for employees who have worked for two years.

On average, each worker will be able to purchase about 346 stocks, at a total price over 64 million won.

The latest incentive stock option offering is largely part of Naver’s efforts to incentivize workers and counter a potential brain drain and technology leaks from the company.

In March, Naver provided 1.26 million stock options to 3,466 employees.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)