Phuket-based HotelTravel.com sold to MakeMyTrip for US$25m

PHUKET: Blair Speers, founder of Phuket-based website HotelTravel.com, has sold his company to Indian OTA MakeMyTrip for US$25m – US$15m cash and US$10m in shares.

Sunday 11 November 2012, 10:53AM

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Speers, a Canadian national who has lived and worked in Phuket for the last 20 years, founded HotelTravel.com in 1999.

A Traveltrends.biz report comments, 'It seems MakeMyTrip is trying to diversify away from the "difficult" Indian market. MakeMyTrip's third quarter profit fell 25% to US$1.2m, a result that MakeMyTrip.com Founder and CEO Deep Kalra blamed on "increasingly difficult operating conditions as the health of our domestic airline industry remain uncertain."'

Meanwhile, The Hindu newspaper quotes Kalra as saying, “Access to HotelTravel.com’s inventory will help us significantly expand the range of best-value hotel offerings available to Indian customers. The acquisition will help to build a stronger presence in the Southeast Asia region.”