Betting big on the online ticketing space, digital payments major Paytm has acquired Orbgen Technologies, the entity that operates TicketNew, a Chennai-based online ticketing platform.
This comes after Alibaba Group's entertainment arm Alibaba Pictures Group acquired a majority stake in TicketNew in June last year.
While the specifics of the deal haven’t been disclosed, Economic Times pegs the deal to be between $30 million and $40 million as Paytm acquires the business from Alibaba’s entertainment arm.
Paytm Entertainment, on its part, has increased its online penetration in India by more than 50% and claims to have built a strong business in South India and is working exclusively with iconic single screen theatres and regional multiplex chains including Suresh Productions, V Celluloid, SVC and Anusri Cinemas among others. It recently also announced a ticketing partnership with SPI Cinemas, which owns landmark properties such as Sathyam Cinemas, Le Rêve, The Cinema, in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
Overall, according to the company, Paytm Entertainment has sold over 52 million tickets in the last 12 months and is the ticketing partner for over 4,000 screens in 675 cities.
“We are on a mission to be the one-stop destination for all movie and entertainment ticketing needs. It is our goal to be the leader in every city in India and offer the opportunity to all cinema partners to reach Paytm’s customers. TicketNew founders have built a fantastic business in South India and share the same partnership mindset as Paytm. Under their leadership, Paytm is seeking to connect TicketNew partner cinemas to Paytm’s more than 300 million customers and further invest in helping grow their occupancy and revenues. With this acquisition, we have taken a step closer to our goal of making Paytm Entertainment the No. 1 player in this space,” Madhur Deora, Chief Financial Officer, and SVP, Paytm said in a statement.
Ever since it forayed into this space in March 2016, Paytm has been betting big on the ticketing space to take on the market leader BookMyShow. In July 2017, it acquired a majority stake in Insider.in, an events ticketing platform, giving it a lead into the rapidly growing live entertainment space in India. Since this acquisition Paytm claims to have successfully ticketed over 8000 events with over a million tickets sold.