Private equity major General Atlantic will acquire a minority stake in India-headquartered travel distribution platform TBO for an undisclosed amount, it said.
The PE firm will acquire the stake from entities held by Affirma Capital, which will remain an investor in TBO even after the transaction.
Affirma Capital had invested approximately Rs 300 crore ($42 million) in TBO in 2018 through a secondary transaction just before its spin-off from Standard Chartered Bank. It said in a release on Tuesday that it is “scoring a 9x money multiple on its investment [in TBO] via the partial exit”.
“We continue to believe in its [TBO’s] potential to aggregate and digitize travel for travel partners across the globe and are excited to remain invested in the business,” said Udai Dhawan, Founding Partner and India Head, Affirma Capital.
TBO, founded in 2006 by Gaurav Bhatnagar and Ankush Nijhawan, is a global travel distribution platform with $2.7 billion in gross transaction value in fiscal 2023. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries.
It leverages its proprietary online technology platform to distribute airline and hotel inventory to its customer travel agents and independent travel advisors.
TBO said it is well-positioned to capitalise on the evolving travel landscape, with its end-to-end comprehensive offerings across the travel value chain.
The company has a diversified global footprint and revenue mix and has regional operation centres across India, the Middle East, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
Shantanu Rastogi, managing director and head of India at General Atlantic, said TBO has been focused on building a unique technology platform that can deliver discovery, trust, payments and services to its suppliers and buyers.
“We see immense potential in the path ahead for TBO, including global expansion opportunities, and are excited to partner with the company to help enable the next generation of travel globally,” Rastogi said.
General Atlantic has more than $77 billion in assets under management with more than 220 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Munich, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford, and Tel Aviv.
The agreement to acquire a minority stake in TBO comes as the PE firm also emerged as the lone contender to acquire a roughly 60% stake in Indian hospital chain Cygnus Medicare, DealStreetAsia reported last week. The deal to acquire the majority stake in Cygnus Medicare could be in the range of $100-125 million.
Mid-last year, General Atlantic made headlines alongside Kedaara Capital when it invested in ASG Eye Hospitals in India. Its other investments in India include prominent names such as Acko, a general insurance company and digital healthcare provider Reliance Health.