IPO-bound ixigo acquires bus ticketing platform AbhiBus to strengthen its footprint

• Abhibus is a bus ticketing and aggregation platform founded in 2008.
• Ixigo would get access to Abhibus’ intellectual property and operations with this acquisition.
• Ixigo is planning to file preliminary papers for its IPO by mid August, to raise ₹1,500 crore.

Online ticketing startup Le Travenues — which operates ixigo — has acquired bus ticketing and aggregation platform AbhiBus on Thursday, August 5. The development comes only a week after ixigo raised $53 million in a round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC.

The acquisition will help ixigo expand its footprint in the online ticketing segment, as it gets ready to go public. According to sources within the company, ixigo is planning to file its preliminary paperwork draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by mid August, to raise ₹1,200 crore to ₹1,5000 crore from the public market.

Earlier this week, the Gurugram-based startup also converted itself into a public limited company to start off the initial public offering (IPO) process.

The latest acquisition was done for a mix of cash and ixigo stock. Post this acquisition, AbhiBus team led by founder Sudhakar Reddy Chirra will join the ixigo team. Ixigo would also get access to AbhiBus’ intellectual property, brands, technology and operations with this acquisition.

The duo claims to have a combined user base of 255 million, as of May 31, 2021.

“By leveraging our combined user base, multi-modal transportation capabilities, tech resources and travel domain expertise we will be able to enhance the experience of millions of travellers in India every day,” Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, cofounders of ixigo, said in a statement.

Earlier this year, ixigo had acquired train booking app Confirmtkt.

AbhiBus was founded in 2008 by Chirra. It provides end-to-end software and bus-related services such as online ticketing system, fleet management solutions, vehicle tracking system, passenger information system and logistics management.

The company provides its tech solutions to both private and state transportation corporations in India. It has also partnered with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer bus ticketing services.

AbhiBus claims that they used to sell around 26,000 bus tickets per day in the financial year 2020, before pandemic hit India.

SEE ALSO
Flipkart and Tiger Global have a billion dollar notice to respond to in the next 90 days
WhiteHat Jr’s CEO Karan Bajaj quits exactly a year after Byju’s acquired the company
INTERVIEW: MoEngage, which helps companies like Domino's engage with customers, wants an office in New York and 150 techies in India