Naspers swaps MakeMyTrip stake with Chinas Ctrip

South African technology group Naspers Ltd is fully exiting MakeMyTrip Ltd, two-and-a-half years after merging its ibibo Group with the Nasdaq-listed company in a deal that had marked the biggest consolidation move in the online travel agency segment in India. Naspers will sell its entire stake in MakeMyTrip to Chinese travel services provider Ctrip.com International Ltd, MakeMyTrip said in a statement. Ctrip will own around 49 per cent of MakeMyTrip′s total voting rights. It will also invest shares of MakeMyTrip in a third-party investment entity, which will own around 4 per cent of the Indian company's total voting rights. Naspers will own 5.6 per cent of Ctrip after the transaction. Deep Kalra, chairman and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, said: “We will leverage this investment to benefit from the tremendous growth potential in travel and tourism between our two countries [India and China].” The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is likely to close in the second half of 2019. For Naspers, one of the most prolific technology investors in the country, the exit from MakeMyTrip is its second liquidity event from an Indian company. In May last year, Naspers harvested more than $2 billion by exiting its six-year-old bet on Flipkart after the e-commerce giant was acquired by Walmart Inc.