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Ibibo acquires Peru-based bus ticketing platform Busportal

The move is set to provide a foothold for Ibibo Group-owned, redBus's entry into Latin America

Angad Singh Thakur
Published: Jul 12, 2016 06:01:33 AM IST
Updated: Jul 12, 2016 03:48:35 PM IST
Ibibo acquires Peru-based bus ticketing platform Busportal
Image: Bmaximage
Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus

Online travel major Ibibo Group has acquired a majority stake in Peru-based bus ticketing platform Busportal (Empresa Digital Peruana S.A.C.) for an undisclosed sum, the company said in a press release on Tuesday. It added that the Naspers-backed Ibibo Group, which is the parent company of India’s largest bus ticketing platform, redBus, has executed a binding agreement to this effect.

redBus was acquired by Ibibo Group in 2013 for a reported sum of $101 million, and has been on the expansion path for a while now. “We’re furiously working on expanding in the next 3-4 months,” redBus CEO Prakash Sangam told Forbes India in an earlier interview. The company is already present in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The acquisition is set to provide redBus with a foothold in a number of Latin American markets, including Peru, Columbia and Chile.

“redBus’s entry in the region will benefit the overall online ecommerce market. We are very enthusiastic about scaling up the platform with the support of the most innovative company in the industry,” said Hassan Bourgi, co-founder of Busportal. Bourgi has built the company along with co-founder Carol Riboud.

Earlier this year, the Ibibo Group raised $250 million from its South Africa-based parent. Its other companies include online travel agency Goibibo, B-2-B travel portal Travelboutiqueonline and ride sharing service Ibibo Ryde. “We believe that this will be a strong combination of local knowledge and the robust global platform and technology of redBus,” said Ashish Kashyap, founder and CEO of Ibibo Group.

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