India’s Zomato Expands Movie and Event Ticketing Business with $244 Million Paytm Deal
Zomato announced on Wednesday that it will acquire the movie and events ticketing businesses of Paytm for $244.2 million. This move is part of Zomato’s strategy to expand its presence in India’s online ticketing market, which is currently dominated by BookMyShow, backed by Reliance.
With this acquisition, Zomato will take over Paytm’s ‘TicketNew’ platform, which focuses on movie tickets, and the ‘Insider’ platform, which handles tickets for live events. Zomato expects this acquisition to significantly boost revenue in its non-core businesses, projecting a threefold increase over the next two years. These non-core businesses, which include restaurant table booking services and event organizing and ticketing, accounted for only 2% of Zomato’s total revenue last year but were the company’s fastest-growing segments.
Zomato, which began operating its ticketing business over a year ago, plans to transition Paytm’s ticketing services to its newly launched ‘District’ mobile application within the next 12 months. As part of the acquisition, approximately 280 employees from Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business will join Zomato.
Paytm had developed its movie ticketing business internally and expanded by acquiring Insider and TicketNew for 2.68 billion rupees between 2017 and 2018. The acquisition by Zomato marks a significant shift in the competitive landscape of India’s online ticketing industry.
However, Paytm is now exiting its movie and events ticketing businesses to concentrate on its core payments and financial services operations. This shift comes after a January directive from India’s central bank, which ordered Paytm to wind down its banking unit. By selling its ticketing platforms to Zomato, Paytm is aligning its focus more closely with its primary areas of expertise, allowing it to navigate the regulatory landscape and strengthen its position in the financial services sector.
