MakeMyTrip rakes in 8 times returns from ixigo exit; Deep Kalra steps down from board

Online travel booking platform MakeMyTrip has fully exited its investment in travel and hotel booking service provider ixigo ahead of the latter’s imminent public offering. 

The Nasdaq-listed company sold its entire stakes in ixigo for $38.5 million, raking in about 8 times returns on its decade-old original investment.

MakeMyTrip had invested $4.8 million in 2011 in Gurugram-based Le Travenues Technology, which owns and operates ixigo.  
 
“On August 9, 2021, we completed the sale of our entire equity investment in the securities of an unlisted entity for a total cash consideration of $38.5 million and recorded a gain on sale of $33.1 million, net of transaction related costs, which will be reflected in our financial results for the six months ending September 30, 2021,” the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 
 
The filing did not specifically mention ixigo or disclose the buyer. However, the secondary transaction is likely to have happened during ixigo’s recent pre-IPO (initial public offering) funding. 
 
Last month, ixigo raised Rs 270.3 crore (about $36.5 million) in a funding round led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. 
 
The company also confirmed to TechCircle that is founder Deep Kalra has stepped down from ixigo’s board. 

In May, ixigo appointed Ravi Shanker Gupta as its chief financial officer to accelerate its IPO process. 
 
ixigo was set up in 2007. The platform applies artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for personalised recommendations and deal discovery, airfare predictions, train delay information, and customer service.    

Earlier in the year, ixigo acquired train discovery and booking entity Confirmtkt in a cash and stock deal.  

India’s top online travel agency MakeMyTrip announced it broke-even for the first time in the third quarter of financial year 2021.  

Despite the pandemic, the company has been recovering on account of domestic travel bookings and cost optimisation.  

It has also become cash flow positive in the reported quarter, witnessing $9.5 million in cash reserves. 

In February, it upsized the senior notes offering, due 2018, from the previously announced $175 million in aggregate principal amount of notes to $200 million.  

In August 2020, the company had secured credit and guarantee facilities to the tune of $100 million as a backup source of liquidity for contingencies and potential investments.