Network 18, which has been looking to sell its restaurant discovery and recommendation engine Burrp has successfully sold the business to ticketing platform BookMyShow in an all cash deal.
While the value of the deal has not been disclosed, according to an Economic Times report, Network18 has divested Mumbai-based Burrp to Foodfesta Wellcare, a subsidiary of BigTree Entertainment which owns and operates BookMyShow.
All key assets of Burrp including its employees and existing restaurant partnerships will be absorbed by BookMyShow.
Burrp recently ventured into offer redemption and couponing, along with ticketing of food and beverage (F&B) events
For BookMyShow, this will add significant value and will be a boost for the company as food is an integral part of movie going in India.
“Movie going in India is a social activity and food is an integral part of it. This is where Burrp fits in for us. We are excited to have Burrp on board and look forward to benefiting from their experience, technology and partnerships to offer a superior and comprehensive offering to our users,” said Mansi Vora, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at BookMyShow told ET.
Currently, BookMyShow gives its users the option to pre-book their food and beverages at cinemas while booking their movie tickets on its platform. This vertical, the company claims, has seen 6X growth in FY17.
Additionally, BookMyShow also gives exclusive and free discount coupons through its MyCoupons offering across 80 cities. These can be redeemed at restaurants and cafes in the vicinity of the cinema.
Howwever, ET reports that Burrp will continue to run as a separate business and will not be a part of any of the movie ticketing platform’s F&B led businesses. And this includes its concessions, offers through MyCoupons.
ET reports that BookMyShow has partnered with over 2,100 food retail brands including McDonald’s, Chaayos, Mainland China, Dunkin Donuts, Barbeque Nation and Subway among others to cover over 6400 outlets around 1100 cinemas in these cities.
Burrp has over 60,000 restaurants across 14 cities and was founded by Deep Ubhi and Anand Jain in 2006. It was then acquired by Infomedia18 for Rs 4.25 crore in 2009.
Founded in 1999 by Ashish Hemrajani, Rajesh Balpande, Parikshit Dar, BookMyShow is the market leader when it comes to movie and event ticketing.
The ticketing space has been seing traction in the past few months with Alibab Group acquiring a majority stake in Chennai-based movie ticketing platform TicketNew.
In June, The Ken reported that Paytm picked up a majority stake in the events ticketing company Insider.in, which is run by OML Entertainment for $5.42 million (Rs 35 crore).