Apoorv Anupam
26 April 2019, India:
MakeMyTrip Limited today announced a change in the company’s shareholding as Naspers Limited and Ctrip.com International, Ltd. entered into a share exchange transaction agreement.
Naspers will exchange its entire shareholding in MakeMyTrip for newly issued shares of Ctrip and Ctrip will acquire Naspers’ current shareholding in MMYT. Concurrent with the share exchange, Ctrip will invest certain ordinary shares and class B shares of MakeMyTrip in a third-party investment entity, the company said in a statement.
Following the transaction, Naspers will own 5.6% of Ctrip’s outstanding ordinary shares, and Ctrip and the third-party investment entity will own ordinary shares and class B shares of MMT representing approximately 49.0% and 4.0% of MakeMyTrip’s total voting rights, respectively.
“We are grateful for the unstinting support Naspers has provided us over the last couple of years. 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.” said Deep Kalra, Chairman and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip.
“Today’s announcement provides a major boost for MakeMyTrip and the rapidly growing travel industry in India. 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,” said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and CEO-India of MakeMyTrip.
“MakeMyTrip has transformed travel in India and beyond since 2000. The agreement we have announced today is a significant step in the growth ambitions of both MakeMyTrip and Ctrip and we believe continuing to support them as a shareholder will create additional value for Naspers and our shareholders,” said Bob van Dijk, CEO, Naspers.
“Over the past years we have witnessed the great achievements of MakeMyTrip, and we are confident that MakeMyTrip will extend its success in the future,” said James Liang, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Ctrip.
“We are also delighted to welcome Naspers to become our shareholder. Ctrip will continue to work hard to create greater value for our customers, our partners and all shareholders,” said Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the requisite regulatory approvals.
The transaction is expected to close as soon as practicable in the second half of 2019.
(Source – MakeMyTrip)