Zomato has announced that it will acquire Paytm’s movie and events ticketing businesses for $244.2 million (about ₹2,048 crores). This move is aimed at strengthening Zomato’s growing ticketing sector.
Currently, the online ticketing market in India is led by BookMyShow, which is supported by Reliance.
Paytm, which has been a significant rival to BookMyShow since 2017, will transfer its ticketing platforms—’TicketNew’ for movie tickets and ‘Insider’ for live events—to Zomato.
Zomato expects this acquisition to triple its revenue from non-core businesses, which include restaurant reservations and event ticketing. Last year, these areas contributed just 2% to Zomato’s total revenue but were its fastest-growing sectors.
Zomato started its ticketing services over a year ago. According to the agreement, Paytm’s platforms will continue providing ticketing services for the next 12 months before fully transitioning to Zomato’s new ‘District’ mobile app.
Zomato will also take on approximately 280 employees from Paytm’s entertainment ticketing division.
Paytm initially built its movie ticketing business and bought Insider and TicketNew for ₹2.68 billion between 2017 and 2018.
However, it is now stepping away from these ventures to focus on its core payments and financial services, following a directive from India’s central bank to close its banking unit.
The deal could pose a challenge for BookMyShow (BMS). As the leading player in India’s online ticketing market, BMS now faces increased competition from Zomato, which is strengthening its position with Paytm’s ticketing platforms.
While BMS remains a dominant force, it will need to adapt and innovate to maintain its edge in the face of this growing competition.
