Flipkart Acquires Cleartrip to Further Bolster Its Online Presence

Flipkart has announced that it is going to acquire online travel aggregator Cleartrip for an undisclosed amount. This deal will allow e-commerce giant to strengthen its presence in the online travel industry and become a stronger competitor against its rival Amazon. This acquisition could also help the company grow its businesses and revenues. Flipkart will acquire all operations of Cleartrip, though Cleartrip will continue to operate as a separate entity, as per the terms of the agreement made public through a press statement. As per the agreement, Flipkart will acquire 100 % of Cleartrip's shareholding upon the closure of the deal. Cleartrip will retain its employee base. Financial terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed publicly. However, the deal size is reported to be around USD40 million (roughly Rs. 299.8 crores).

In 2018, Flipkart integrated with MakeMyTrip to enable travel bookings on its platform. Later on, in August 2019, Flipkart signed a deal with Ixigo. Since then, the travel industry has faced an uphill struggle, due to COVID-related restrictions having a huge impact on travel. Incorporated in 2006, Cleartrip was one of the first big travel aggregators, although from third party data, its competitors like MakeMyTrip and Ibibo, which joined forces in 2017, grew far more popular over the years. In 2018,Cleartrip brought an Alexa integration to let users book their flights and hotels using voice assistance. The company also partnered with Flipkart arch-rival Amazon in May 2019 to bring flight bookings to Amazon Pay.