MakeMyTrip to buy Ibibo Travel Business

Online Travel firm MakeMyTrip Ltd has agreed to buy Ibibo Group’s Travel Business in India for $720 Million in stock, creating one of the largest travel companies in the country. The deal will bring all brands of the Nasper and Tencent backed Ibibo Group such as Goibibo, redBus, Ryde and Rightstay under MakeMyTrip. Together, MakeMyTrip and Ibibo processed 34.1 Million transactions in 2015-16.

The transaction is expected to unlock value for customers, supply partners and shareholders, by combining the complementary strengths of each business. MakeMyTrip brings its strong brand, robust mix of domestic and outbound hotels and packages business and strong position in the air ticketing business. Ibibo Group, via its brand Goibibo and redBus, comes with a strong presence in various fast growing travel segments including hotels, bus bookings and air ticketing. 

The combined entity is valued at $1.8 Billion. Naspers and Tencent jointly held 91% and 9% stake in Ibibo respectively. They will be issued new shares in MakeMyTrip and will become the single largest shareholder in MakeMyTrip, owning a 40% stake and will continue proportionate working capital once the deal is closed.

India is a key market for Naspers. Ibibo and MakeMyTrip have built leading companies through their innovative use of technology to create exceptional experiences for people traveling throughout India and increasingly beyond. Morgan Stanley acted as the financial advisor to MakeMyTrip. Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisor to Ibibo and Naspers while Cravath, Swaine and Moore, Trilegal and BLC Roberts served as legal advisors.

PayU to buy Citrus Pay

Digital Payment provider PayU, which is owned by South Africa’s Naspers Group will buy rival Citrus Pay for $130 Million, the fifth largest deal ever in the Indian Start-up business and an indicator of the booming financial technology sector.

After the acquisition, PayU India will have more than 30 Million customers. The company forecast it will process an estimated 150 Million transactions worth $4.2 Billion in 2016. The deal is expected to give an attractive exit to Citrus Pay investors, Ascent Capital and Beenos and Sequoia Capital. It also represents the latest expansion push by Naspers, which owns the Ibibo Group in India.

Naspers is now involved in two of the five biggest deals in Indian start-ups. It also bought online bus ticketing platform RedBus in 2013 for an estimated $135 Million and owns a large minority stake in Flipkart. Rising mobile Internet usage and a regulatory push toward converting cash payments into digital are expected to drive a rapid expansion of online payments.

Innerchef acquires EatOnGo and Flavour Labs

Food technology start-up Innerchef, which operates in the ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meals segment has acqui-hired two food startups, Flavour Labs in Gurgaon and EatOnGo in Bengaluru, signaling further consolidation in the food tech segment starved of cash after investors clawed back on investments late last year.

Acqui-hiring is essentially done for the target company talent pool more than its products and services. The acquisition of Flavour Labs, a food truck company, will help Innerchef enter the mobile kitchen segment, while EatOnGo, which specializes in breakfasts, will help the company expand its presence in Bengaluru. EatOnGo was launched in May 2015 while Flavour Labs started its operations in 2014.

In September last year, Innerchef had raised Rs. 11 Crore in a pre-series A funding round from a clutch of investors including redBus and Paytm founders. Apart from ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meals, Innerchef operates a Hyperlocal marketplace for desserts sourced from home bakers and bakeries in Delhi, Gurgaon and Bengaluru.

Several food tech start-ups have shut shop following a slowdown in investment while some have been acquired by well capitalized rivals. While Internet first kitchen SpoonJoy was bought by Hyperlocal delivery startup Grofers, another startup Dazo shut shop the same month. Bigger Businesses such as Zomato and TinyOwl have pruned their workforce last year.

Exotel acquires Voyce

Exotel, a Bangalore based virtual business telephone company, has acquired Voyce, a company which allows businesses to get real time customer feedback, to strengthen Exotel customer service offerings. Voyce claimed to work with over 20 enterprise hospitality chains in India and was founded in 2014.

Exotel claims over 1,400 clients and 70 employees. In February, Exotel acquired the voice based media startup Croak.it for an undisclosed amount. Exotel said that this acquisition would help it improve its services, adding that it planned to acquire more startups in the voice space. The company also claimed to have set up about 650 call centres since inception. In 2012, Exotel had raised Rs 2.5 crore in its Series A funding from Blume Ventures and Mumbai Angels in return for a 25% stake.

Exotel provides cloud telephony services for small and medium enterprises including virtual phone numbers, IVR Greetings and call routing, call centre set up and cash on delivery verification among others. The company deploys cloud based telephony solutions to replace communication hardware systems, to reduce costs, space requirements and maintenance efforts.

It also offers a virtual dashboard that offers various tools to help businesses manage several areas like sales, marketing, customer support, business intelligence and analytics. Its client includes taxi aggregator Ola, Lifestyle retailer Zivame and bus ticketing firm RedBus.