Ixigo, a leading online travel aggregator based out of Gurugram has reportedly announced that it has inked a new definitive share purchase deal to buy 100% stake in Confirmtkt, a renowned online train booking and discovery platform based out of Bengaluru. According to reports, financial details relating to the deal have not been disclosed. However, it is known that the takeover would be done using a mix of ixigo stock and cash.
Under the terms of the takeover agreement, ixigo founders would be coming onboard Confirmtkt board, joining existing company investors in the process. Meanwhile, Venture Catalysts, present investor of the company, would be making its exit from the company completely as part of the new deal.
As pre reliable reports, both the enterprises would continue to operate independently following the finalization of the proposed acquisition deal. Confirmtkt, established back in 2015, recorded a total revenue of over Rs.21.4 crore ($2.9 million) as well as operating profit of over Rs.1.54 crore ($211,231) in FY20.
According to ixigo, in pre-COVID-19 days, India’s train travel sector was a considerable $8 billion market with over 25 million passengers making a train trip on a day to day basis. An ixigo statement said that both it as well as Confirmtkt are the official premium ticketing partners for IRCTC B2C to make train reservations online in India.
The latest takeover deal will supposedly help the group strengthen its standing in India’s tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, which is a relatively under-tapped market with a combined customer base of approximately 200 million individuals.
Ixigo co-founders, Rajnish Kumar and Aloke Bajpai, stated that the merged entity from the proposed acquisition deal would boast of a scale of more than 35 million active monthly users. The co-founders further added that their endeavor over the forthcoming year will be able to fuel quicker growth as well as deeper penetration within a segment referred to as the ‘next billion users’.