Funding story
MakeMyTrip is one of the largest online travel agencies around, conducting thousands of transactions each day. The startup got a further boost when it announced the raising of investment worth USD 180 million from Ctrip.com International Ltd, a travel service provider based in China. The funding will be made through convertible bonds.
About Ctrip and MakeMyTrip’s latest ventures
The raised funding is expected to benefit both companies immensely. Both have a long and successful history of online travel booking-Ctrip was launched in 1999 with a focus on transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management. Led by James Liang, the travel agency has thus managed to gain access to the Indian market using the funding. In 2003, it acquired 3 of its Chinese rivals-Toursforfun, Travelfusion and Suanya. The company’s steep rise is thus set to get even steeper with this latest instance of funding, besides ensuring its involvement in a network which spans two developing countries(India and China), where the online travel planning segment is expanding rapidly.
MakeMyTrip has also experienced a meteoric rise since its founding in 2000 by Keyur Joshi, Rajesh Magow and Deep Kalra. The Gurgaon-based company recently succeeded in bringing on board Goibibo co-founder Deepak Tuli. Tuli brought along his vast experience regarding business lines and accommodation arrangement. 2015 was an excellent year for the company in many other respects-in April, MakeMyTrip acquired Bengaluru-based travel planner Mygola.
Conclusion
This deal also allows Ctrip to acquire upto 26.6% of MakeMyTrip’s outstanding shares. Acquiring the latter’s shares will also boost MakeMyTrip’s value in the stock market. Echoing the views of analysts, Deep Kalra said that the similarities between the Indian and Chinese online travel markets are expected to make this partnership mutually beneficial. MakeMyTrip’s pole position in the Indian market is thus expected to only solidify further, placing it in an excellent position to derive maximum benefit from the expansion of the online travel market.
For more info, visit the company’s website.
