Online travel services firm MakeMyTrip on Tuesday said its fintech arm TripMoney has acquired a majority stake in online foreign currency exchange services provider BookMyForex for an undisclosed amount, in order to become a one-stop solution for all forex needs of Indian travellers.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal. With this investment, BookMyForex’s services will be rolled out soon for the benefit of MakeMyTrip and Goibibo customers.
BookMyForex’s services include currency exchange that offers real-time exchange rate, multi-currency prepaid forex cards, cross border remittances as well as other ancillary products, TripMoney said in a statement.
The company will leverage the extensive network of BookMyForex’s partners, including select banks and reputed exchange companies, to fulfil forex requirements of customers in multiple cities across India.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and Group CEO Rajesh Magow said, “The acquisition of majority stake in BookMyForex is in line with our strategic vision to build a travel super app offering complete suite of services for the discerning traveller. We look forward to working closely with the leadership of BookMyForex to help accelerate growth of outbound travellers buying forex online by offering the services to millions of visitors on MakeMyTrip and Goibibo booking platforms.”
Leading private equity firm Faering Capital as well as founders and promoters, Nitin Motwani and Sudarshan Motwani, will continue to stay invested in BookMyForex.
BookMyForex CEO Sudarshan Motwani said, “Having introduced the idea of buying or selling retail forex products online at real-time forex rates to the end consumer, BookMyForex has come a long way to becoming India’s preferred online forex platform. This journey would not have been possible without unwavering support from Faering Capital.”
Motwani said the investment from TripMoney comes at an opportune time as the world warms up to international travel. “We will leverage the strength of MakeMyTrip and Goibibo to scale new heights by gaining deeper geographic penetration; and launch industry leading products for the benefit of the consumers.”
Faering Capital Managing Director Aditya Parekh said, “We are delighted to welcome MakeMyTrip as a shareholder in the company. BookMyForex has established itself as the leading online foreign exchange platform in India and the partnership with MMT will offer customers a superior user experience with a full range of services from ticket booking to forex. We are excited to work with MakeMyTrip and the team at BookMyForex for the next leg of the company’s growth journey.”
MakeMyTrip owns and operates online brands, including MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus. Its services and products include air ticketing, hotel and alternative accommodations bookings, holiday planning and packaging, rail ticketing, bus ticketing, car hire and ancillary travel requirements such as facilitating access to third-party travel insurance and visa processing.
BookMyForex operates a hybrid model where we execute majority of forex pre-paid travel card orders and use network of Banks and reputed money changers for cross border payments, foreign currency bank notes and international SIM cards, among others.
Faering Capital is a leading Indian private equity firm with significant experience and a proven track record. The firm was founded by Aditya Parekh and Sameer Shroff and manages USD 600 million of capital across three funds.
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