MIH Group, a subsidiary of South African media conglomerate Naspers and owner of social networking site Ibibo, has acquired a 51% stake in Gurgaon-based travel company Tek Travels, which owns B2B travel portal Travel Boutique Online.
Ankush Nijhawan, co-founder and CEO of Travel Boutique Online, confirmed the acquisition but declined to comment on the financial details of the transaction. But a senior executive within the travel industry, who is familiar with the development, estimated the value of the deal at tens of crore.
"This is a strategic partnership between MIH Group and Travel Boutique Online," said Nijhawan who, along with IIT alumnus Gaurav Bhatnagar, founded Travel Boutique Online in 2006. The two will continue to run the company along with the entire management after the acquisition as per an ET report. "While MIH will gain footprint in the domestic online business travel space, we will be able to tap international markets," he observed.
Travel Boutique Online offers a gamut of travel services such as airline, train and hotel reservation and holiday package deals. It also provides charter and choppers and helps with car rental, bus bookings and travel insurance. Its revenues stand at 90-110 crore.
MIH runs businesses in internet platforms, pay-television and related technologies. In India, it has an active presence in the e-commerce space through internet assets such as ibibo Games (social games), Goibibo.com (travel), Tradus.in (shopping marketplace), Payu.in (payments) and Gaadi.com (auto classifieds). Besides, it also has a majority interest in a fast growing online travel portal, Goibibo.com.
Last year, MIH Group bought a majority stake in the privately-held Gaadi Web, which runs Gaadi.com that helps users buy and sell new and used cars.
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