In what would be an endorsement to BookMyShow’s aggressive growth and market dominance, the company could soon see the likes of General Atlantic, Temasek and Goldman Sachs joining its shareholders’ list, according to a report from Economic Times.
BookMyShow’s stake sale transaction would, in all certainty, see a complete exit by SAIF Partners, which holds 5.6% stake, and a partial exit by Accel India. This will ensure great returns for the two early-stage VC firms, since BMS will see its valuation soar past the $1 Billion mark in this transaction.
SAIF Partners had invested close to $25 Million in a Series B round in 2014, while Accel had preceded that with an $18 Million Series A round in 2012. If the valuation being speculated in the current sale stands, SAIF could make as much as $50-$60 Million from the sale. Accel would make large profits too, and will also keep a considerable stake in the company.
Certain employees would also see their stakes getting liquidated. Avendus Capital has been mandated for the share sale, wherein BookMyShow is seeking a valuation of about $1.3 billion.
According to a source cited by ET, “General Atlantic is currently the frontrunner for the deal and it will value BookMyShow at around $1.1 billion,”. The deal is being done at a premium to BookMyShow’s valuation of over $800 million at which it raised $100 million from TPG Growth in July last year.
BookMyShow was among India’s fairly early ‘tech startups’. The company was founded in 1996 by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dhar and Rajesh Balpande as a platform for theaters to manage their inventory in the world’s largest cinema market. Once inventory management was in place, the company began selling those tickets online as well.
Multiple competitors have tried to enter this particular market, most notable of them all being the multi-billion valued Paytm. However, BookMyShow’s growth engine never really stopped, with the company now clocking over 20 Million monthly ticket sales, far ahead of the closest competitor. Customer reviews about the platform and its app have largely been favorable, hence resulting in nothing short of complete market dominance by the company.
While movie ticketing business has achieved significant peak, BookMyShow’s focus over the past half a decade has also shifted towards live events and sports. World’s largest cricket league and the sixth most valued sports league — the IPL — saw its tickets being sold on BookMyShow. It is also co-promoting basketball in India through a tie-up with US-based NBA.
Earlier this year, the company invested in payments company AtomX to enable cashless payments at its events and has also been pushing fantasy gaming platform Fantain. BookMyShow reported a 30% increase in operational revenues at Rs 391 crore in FY18, while net losses increased by 16.5% to Rs 162 crore, as the company invested in the non-movie business.
