New Delhi, February 14 Marking its first major international acquisition, travel aggregator ixigo's board has approved the execution of binding agreements for the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Spain's second-largest train booking platform, Online Travel Solutions, for 11.70 million euros (over Rs 125 crore).
The acquisition of Trenes paves the way for ixigo's strategic entry into Europe, which is widely regarded as the global benchmark for rail travel.
"This investment is expected to create meaningful synergies by bringing together Trenes' strong customer base, brand presence, and local operator integrations with ixigo's AI-led product innovation and technological expertise in solving complex travel use cases at scale," ixigo said in a statement.
"With this acquisition, the company aims to accelerate the Trenes product development, AI reinvention, and improve customer experience to unlock new growth opportunities in Europe," ixigo said in a statement.
The proposed acquisition will help leverage Ixigo's product, technology, and AI leadership in the European OTA market, as Trenes is engaged in the business of providing an online platform for train ticket bookings, primarily catering to the Spanish market, with operations extending to certain other parts of Southern Europe.
Following the acquisition, Online Travel Solutions, S.L. will become a subsidiary of ixigo, it stated in a late-night regulatory filing on Friday.
The board of directors of ixigo also approved the acquisition of a 45.02 per cent stake in Squad As Service, S.L., Spain (Sqaas) for a total consideration of 0.45 million euros (over Rs 4.83 crore).
The total consideration for both acquisitions includes non-compete fees and authorisation of the signing of definitive agreements, subject to the completion of procedural formalities and regulatory requirements in Spain.
After the acquisition, Squad As Service, S.L. (Sqaas) will become an associate company of ixigo.
Sqaas is engaged in the business of providing technology-driven solutions, with a focus on artificial intelligence-enabled software and related services.