China’s Travel Giant Ctrip Now Owns Almost Half Of MakeMyTrip
Naspers will exchange its entire shareholding in MakeMyTrip for the newly issued shares of China’s Ctrip.
Ctrip.com International, Ltd., the world’s second-largest online travel firm, is set to own half of MakeMyTrip Ltd.
Naspers Ltd. will exchange its entire shareholding in India’s largest ticket-booking platform for the newly issued shares of Ctrip, MakeMyTrip said in a statement. This marks the exit of South African internet conglomerate after its portfolio company Ibibo merged with MakeMyTrip in October 2016.
After the transaction, Ctrip will own approximately 49 percent of MakeMyTrip shares and Naspers will own 5.6 percent of Ctrip. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019 subject to regulatory approvals, the statement said.
The investment leaves Ctrip with 4 percent of MakeMyTrip’s voting power. Ctrip and Naspers had invested $330 million into MakeMyTrip two years ago.
“Over the past years, we have witnessed the great achievements of MakeMyTrip, and we are confident that MakeMyTrip will extend its success in the future,” James Liang, co-founder and executive chairman of Ctrip, said.
The share exchange transaction will allow Ctrip to enjoy a larger exposure to India’s travel market and benefit from growth of MakeMyTrip, Naspers said in a statement. “It also allows MakeMyTrip to benefit from Ctrip’s significant global scale.”
MakeMyTrip Co-founder Rajesh Magow said the deal would take the company “to the next level.” “We will leverage this investment to benefit from the tremendous growth potential in travel and tourism between our two countries,” he said.
The deal comes at a time when Naspers is preparing to list its international business in The Netherlands.