Chinese Travel Booking Giant Ctrip Invests In India’s MakeMyTrip

Ctrip, the Chinese travel booking site valued at over $10 billion, has taken a big step in India after it agreed to invest $180 million in MakeMyTrip, a fellow booking service that covers flights, hotels and bus ticketing in the South Asian country.

The investment is in convertible bonds but MakeMyTrip, a 15-year-old company that is listed on the Nasdaq, will allow Ctrip to own up to 26.6 percent of its existing shareholding. Ctrip will also get a seat on the MakeMyTrip board. News of the investment sent the Indian company’s share price soaring — it rose by 23.5 percent at the close of trading on Thursday to give MakeMyTrip a market cap of $689.4 million.

Statements from both companies indicated that they will work closely together going forward.

“We believe there are many similarities in the Indian and Chinese online travel markets and we expect this strategic relationship between two market leaders to be mutually beneficial,” commented Deep Kalra, founder and group CEO at MakeMyTrip.

Ctrip closed out the year with a partnership with long-term rival Qunar, which is controlled by majority shareholder Baidu, in October. The deal, which wasn’t one of the many consolidation mergers that happened in China in 2015, gave Ctrip a 45 percent voting interest in Qunar in exchange for Internet giant Baidu taking 25 percent of Ctrip.

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