Alibaba Pictures acquires majority stake in TicketNew

Alibaba Group’s entertainment arm Alibaba Pictures Group Limited has acquired a majority stake in Chennai-based online ticketing platform TicketNew.

The acquisition is expected to strengthen TicketNew’s operations and expand its services across India. It is Alibaba Pictures’s first acquisition outside China in internet ticketing industry.

Strong base in South Around 3,000 screens are in TicketNew’s network across India with an average ticket booking history of one lakh per day, according to a source from the company. With the partnership in place, the company hopes to take it to three lakh in the next eight months, the source added.

Talking about the acquisition, Ramkumar Nammalvar, Founder, TicketNew, told BusinessLine that there is hardly any player in the online ticketing space that can cater to wider population. While TicketNew has a strong base in the South, especially in the neighbourhood theatres in tier-II and tier-III cities, it does not have much presence beyond that. Nammalvar said the company wanted to reach wider audience and expand to other cities, which requires substantial financial and technological resources.

Alibaba Pictures is investing close to ₹120 crore in TicketNew.