Flipkart to again go shopping in travel sector, in talks to buy controlling stake in Cleartrip: Report

Aiming to spread its branches into the travel industry, Walmart-owned Flipkart is in discussion with Cleartrip to purchase a controlling stake in the online travel aggregator, Money Control has reported.

Purchasing a stake in the travel company, Flipkart will come head-to-head with other players like MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Booking.com and EaseMyTrip, among others. This comes at a time when the Covid-hit travel industry in the country has just started coming back to life.

“Negotiations are on and the proposed deal is for the sale of a majority stake in Cleartrip,” Money Control quoted an unnamed source, adding that the talks may or may not necessarily turn into a deal.

Another source close to the matter told the publication, “This is in line with Flipkart’s strategy to diversify and expand into product lines and categories via acquisitions and drive more GMV (gross merchandise value). If it is sealed, this deal can be seen as an opportunistic acquisition in the Covid-19 era.”

DH couldn’t independently confirm the report.

Apart from India, Cleartrip also operates in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The Bengaluru-based company entered the travel space in 2018 with a partnership with MakeMyTrip, where it promoted the latter's travel services on its platform.

The e-commerce giant is not the only player that is looking to expand in all the sectors. Other businesses like Amazon, Paytm, Reliance have also made sure to be present in all the segments like retail, food delivery, payment services, travel, etc.