Online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow which is owned and operated by Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd has raised $100 million (Rs 685 crore) in its latest round of investment.
BookMyShow has been looking to grow the non-movie business to a significant scale over the past year and will look to deploy the capital in some of these areas for growth. This is as per a report in the Economic Times.
The talks of TPG Growth investing in BookMyShow.com were reported in January 2018.
TPG Growth is the middle market and growth equity platform of American alternative asset firm TPG.
TPG Capital (abbrev. for Texas Pacific Group) is an American investment company. It is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the world, focused on leveraged buyouts, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a broad range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel/leisure and health care. The firm was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter, and William S. Price III.
TPG is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and San Francisco, California.
This is the fifth round of fund-raising for BookMyShow, founded by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande. In 2007, Network18 invested in the company’s maiden round.
Accel Partners invested $18 million in the company in 2012. In 2014, the company raised $25 million in a round led by SAIF Partners that also saw participation from existing investors Accel and Network 18.
BookMyShow last raised Rs550 crore in July 2016 from Stripes Group, Accel Partners, SAIF Partners and Network18 at a valuation of more than Rs3,000 crore.
The firm which has been looking to grow the non-movie business to a significant scale will look to deploy the capital in some of these areas for growth.
“BookMyShow is excited to welcome TPG Growth as our newest partner. They bring with them extensive experience across the global media and entertainment sector, which will be instrumental as we look to accelerate our growth plans in this space. The strategic value that all our investors continue to provide us will also be of immense importance as we begin a new chapter of our standout story,” said Ashish Hemrajani, Founder and CEO, BookMyShow in a statement.
The online movie ticketing space has been witnessing intense competition with BookMyShow claiming to sell about 12 million tickets per month with an active user base of over 30 million customers. In comparison competitor Paytm claims to have sold 52 million tickets last year growing 500% in volumes since its launch in May 2016.
“BookMyShow has a tremendous chance to transform how Indian consumers discover and experience entertainment, and we’re looking forward to working with Ashish and the team to capitalize on this opportunity,” said Bill McGlashan, TPG Growth Founder and Managing Partner and Co-Founder and CEO of The Rise Fund.
BookMyShow’s operational revenues grew 27% to Rs 300 crore in FY17 while losses rose to Rs 139 crore during the same year compared to Rs 1 crore the year ago.
Industry experts tracking the space peg BookMyShow’s movie ticketing segment to have grown at over 25-30% annually with the firm having clawed back to retain its market leadership position in FY18.
BookMyShow is yet to file its financials for FY18 with the registrar of companies. The company is present across over 4,500 screens in about 650 cities while Paytm offers movie tickets for about 4,000 screens across a similar breadth of cities.