Indian food delivery and quick commerce company Zomato plans to expand its efforts in helping Indian consumers find and buy movie, sports and event tickets.
Zomato plans to achieve this by acquiring Indian payments and financial services distribution company Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (August 21).
Zomato expects the transaction to close during the current quarter, subject to completion of closing conditions, according to the statement.
According to the announcement, once the transaction is complete, the ticketing business will continue to operate on the Paytm app for up to 12 months during which time it will transition to Zomato. Around 280 employees will transition from Paytm to Zomato.
According to the announcement, Zomato will spin off the business and launch a new app which it plans to name District.
“Our mission as an organisation is to build products and services that drive India’s changing lifestyle,” Zomato said in the announcement.
“We believe that out-of-home experiences will continue to grow strongly in lockstep with overall lifestyle and consumption growth over the next decade and more. This proposed acquisition will enable us to gain scale and deliver new use cases (e.g. movie and sports ticketing) to our customers in this space.”
Paytm’s owner, One 97 Communications Limited (OCL), in a press release on Wednesday about the planned transaction, said the deal would enable Paytm to focus on core payments and delivery of financial services.
According to a press release, Paytm is expanding its services into insurance, stock broking and asset allocation, and hopes that these expanded business areas will replace revenues from its entertainment ticketing business.
“Today, as we transition ownership to Zomato, we thank all of the team members who have helped build this business,” a Paytm spokesperson said in a press release, referring to the entertainment ticketing business. “We have been honored to grow this business alongside this great team. This transition will enable us to continue to focus on long-term growth in our core areas and creating value for all our stakeholders.”
It was reported in June that talks about the proposed deal were underway and that Paytm was trying to turn around its fortunes amid declining revenue. The company announced in May that it would be shedding non-core assets as it reported its first-ever sales decline.
Read more: Acquisition, Entertainment Ticket Sales, Event Ticket Sales, Financial Services, Food Delivery, News, Payment Services, Paytm, PYMNTS News, Quick Commerce, Ticket Sales, What’s Hot, Zomato
Source link
