South African Internet conglomerate Naspers is exiting MakeMyTrip, nearly two and half years after merging Ibibo‘s travel business with MakeMyTrip‘s India business. This is as per a report in the Economic Times.
This will be Naspers‘s second major exit in the Indian Internet ecosystem after selling its 11.8% stake in Flipkart to Walmart for $2.2 billion in May last year.
Naspers said Ctrip, an existing shareholder in MakeMyTrip, will acquires its entire ownership for a 5.6% stake in the Chinese travel major. Post this deal, Ctrip will own 49% stake in the online travel portal. MakeMyTrip’s current market cap is at $2.69 billion while Ctrip’s market cap stands at $23.5 billion at the time of writing this article.
“We are grateful for the unstinting support Naspers has provided us over the last couple of years. We have worked with Ctrip in the past years and are excited to take this partnership to the next level. We will leverage this investment to benefit from the tremendous growth potential in travel and tourism between our two countries.” said Deep Kalra, Chairman and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip.
“MakeMyTrip has transformed travel in India and beyond since 2000. The agreement we have announced today is a significant step in the growth ambitions of both MakeMyTrip and Ctrip and we believe continuing to support them as a shareholder will create additional value for Naspers and our shareholders,” said Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk.