One of country’s top ticketing platform BookMyShow has picked up a 75% stake in Pune-based DIY (do it yourself) ticket booking platform, Townscript. This is a crucial step for the company which recently acquired Hyderabad-based ticketing platform MastiTickets in an all-cash deal. Similar to the mentioned deal, this acquisition is said to be an all cash transaction, though the amount hasn’t been disclosed by the parties involved.
Commenting on the said move, Ashish Hemrajani, Co-founder of BookMyShow says,
We definitely expect to see more traction in the space of do it yourself ticketing events. It’s unique and addresses a different set of users who want to set up their own events. They will operate as an independent entity but will be accessible through the BMS site and gain access to our existing user base.
Further, he says Townscript will work as a separate entity, however, the users will have an option to choose from two apps. While BookMyShow attracts most users interested in buying tickets for shows and events happening in and around them; Townscript has a very differentiated work field. The latter acts as an event organizer giving an option of event creation to the users. A user can easily create an event within 5 minutes through services provided by the app. Townscript assists users in managing the so created event as well.
A minimal fee of 3.99% plus Rs.10 per transaction included in the payment gateway. The platform has served over 12,000 events across India including small base events such as office conferences, workshops, regional exhibitions, etc.
This acquisition adds to BookMyShow’s portfolio which has previously procured Chennai-based ticketing app TicketGreen in 2013, social media analytics startup Eventifier in 2015 along with a fan relationship management startup Fantain Sports in 2016. This is the second biggest purchase for the platform after taking over MastiTickets.
The recent buyouts for the company credit to an INR 550 crore investment poured in by Stripes Group. The funding was raised in August 2016 focused on strengthening its position in the market. The said fundraising round also saw participation from existing investors including Network 18, Accel Partners, and SAIF Partners; taking the platform valuation to over Rs. 3,000 crores.
