Walmart-backed e-commerce platform Flipkart is likely to announce its acquisition of hotel and flight booking portal Cleartrip within the next few days, as per media reports citing sources. BloombergQuint was not able to confirm this independently and has yet to receive a response from the two companies.
The transaction will be a mix of cash and equity and is likely to value Cleartrip at around $40 million in what is considered to be a distress sale, reported Economic Times citing two unnamed sources.
The Cleartrip acquisition will allow Flipkart to have a direct play in the travel and hospitality segment, which it offered earlier through partnerships. It may also allow Flipkart to cross-sell financial services and products like insurance and payments for travel bookings through Cleartrip, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.
The development comes at a time when the e-commerce space is witnessing heightened deal activity and partnerships.
The last few months have seen acquisitions by the Tata Group which has sought the competition regulator's approval for acquiring 64.3% stake in BigBasket.
Reliance Retail's acquisition of Future Group's retail assets is locked in a legal battle between Future Retail and Amazon. The transaction is currently pending at the National Company Law Tribunal for approval of the scheme of arrangement between Reliance and Future.
And, the latest has been a new partnership between the Adani conglomerate and Flipkart Online Services Pvt. to build one of the largest e-commerce warehouses in India.
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