Ibibo, an India-based online payment and marketplace for a range of consumer services, has acquired RedBus, a fellow India start-up that specialises in online bus ticketing, for a reported $135m, according to a TechCrunch report.
Ibibo is jointly owned by the corporate venturing units of China internet group Tencent (20%) and South Africa media group Naspers/MIH (80%). It is likely that once RedBus gets integrated into the Ibibo technology platform, the product and concept will be taken to new markets, such as China. However, RedBus will be run as a separate entity to Ibibo. It will complement Ibibo’s B2C travel aggregator, Goibibo.com, and TravelBoutiqueOnline, a B2B travel agency platform.
Phanindra Sama, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Redbus, will be staying on and running the business under the new ownership.
Founded in 2006, the company now claims two million users and on one million tickets sold each month. The company makes its money through bus operator fees of successful transactions.
The recent deal also marks a nice exit route for backers of RedBus’ holding company, Pilani Soft Labs, which raised $1m in a series A round from Seedfund; a series B round worth $2.5m in 2009 from Seedfund and Inventus Capital Partners; and a 2011 series C round which raised $6.5m from existing backers and Helion Venture Partners.