Leading online travel firm Yatra has acquired Travelguru from US-based Travelocity Global, making it its fourth acquisition in two years.
Travelguru is an online travel aggregator for hotel rooms and holiday packages.
Mr Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, Yatra.com, said: “This acquisition will strengthen our domestic hotels and holiday’s business. It widens our product portfolio and helps us bundle offers and provide a value proposition to our consumers.’’
He, however, refused to comment on the exact deal size.
He added that Travelguru will continue to operate as a separate entity. “We will invest Rs 10 crore in Travelguru for building up its brand and consumer presence,’’ Mr Shringi said.
Holiday, hotel portfolio
At a time when margins from selling air tickets are under pressure, most online travel firms are aggressively looking to beef up their holiday and hotel portfolio.
Asked if the company is looking at an IPO, Mr Shringi said: “Currently, the market conditions are not conducive but we could look at it in the next 12-18 months.’’
Mobile tech space
The travel firm will next focus on strengthening its position in the mobile technology space giving its consumers convenient solutions to search and book deals on the go. “We could look at an acquisition in the mobile technology solutions space,’’ he said.
Yatra is backed by several investors which include Norwest Venture Partners, Reliance Capital, Network18, Intel Capital and Valiant Capital Partners.
Travelguru offers inventory of about 6,500 hotels. It was acquired by Travelocity in 2009. Yatra has made three acquisitions since 2010 which includes ticketing services provider Travel Services International, MagicRooms and Buzzintown.