MakeMyTrip announces change in shareholding between Naspers and Ctrip

New Delhi: Online travel portal MakeMyTrip (MMYT) has announced a change in the company’s shareholding as South African internet giant Naspers and China’s Ctrip.com International entered into a share exchange transaction agreement.

Naspers will exchange its entire shareholding in MMYT for newly-issued shares of Ctrip, while Ctrip will acquire Naspers’ current shareholding in MMYT.

Concurrent with the share exchange, Ctrip will invest certain ordinary shares and class B shares of MMYT in a third-party investment entity.

After the transaction, Naspers will own 5.6 per cent of Ctrip’s outstanding ordinary shares, and Ctrip and the third-party investment entity will own ordinary shares and class B shares of MMYT representing about 49 per cent and 4 per cent of MMYT total voting rights.

“We are grateful for the unstinting support Naspers has provided us over the last couple of years," said MMYT's Chairman and group CEO Deep Kalra.

"We have worked with Ctrip in the past years and are excited to take this partnership to the next level. We will leverage this investment to benefit from the tremendous growth potential in travel and tourism between our two countries,” he said in a statement.

MMYT's Co-Founder and CEO India Rajesh Magow said: “This partnership will benefit all our stakeholders including employees, customers and business partners. We look forward to working with the Ctrip team to continue to take our business to the next level.”

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019.

MMYT provides customers with access to all airlines operating in India, over 61,500 domestic accommodation properties, more than five lakh properties outside of India, Indian Railways and all major Indian bus operators.