MakeMyTrip, one of India’s leading online travel companies, has agreed to a business transfer for the acquisition of the Happay Expense Management Platform from CRED. This acquisition is in the strategy to gain a stronger foothold in the corporate travel and expense management business of MakeMyTrip. The acquisition is expected to close within 90 days of this announcement, subject to compliance with all necessary regulatory and other closing conditions.
A Strategic Acquisition
In late 2021, Happay was acquired by CRED for a valuation of $180 million. Its expense management solutions cater to corporates. The platform helps businesses track employee travel, tax benefits, and any other expense-related requirements of their employees. Specialized solutions by Happay for large organizations with multiple branches and surface logistics companies.
Under the new arrangement, MakeMyTrip will acquire the Happay brand, its expense management business, and its team. The Happay team will support existing clients, further reporting to MakeMyTrip’s corporate travel services team, as per a press release.
Expansion of Corporate Travel Services
With over 900 corporate clients on board, Happay makes for a natural fit for the vision of leading this space. Its integration will redefine benchmarks in the category of corporate travel and expense management in India, according to Rajesh Magow, co-founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip.
MakeMyTrip already serves over 59,000 corporate customers through its MyBiz platform, developed specifically for small and medium enterprises. On the other hand, it caters to over 450 large corporates through its Quest2Travel platform. With this acquisition, the company will scale up its offerings and preserve leadership in the sector.
CRED Holds On Payments Business
The Happay expense management vertical will be shifted to MakeMyTrip, while the payments business will continue to be at CRED. The payments team at CRED has been working on some innovative solutions, especially B2B payment products. They recently launched a B2B payments platform called Bharat Connect with NPCI.
Kunal Shah of CRED said to focus on strength. “We are enabling each vertical to scale in its domain. Our payments team has an opportunity to transform B2B payments into a seamless, reliable, and scalable experience,” Shah said.
Recent MakeMyTrip Growth
MakeMyTrip is listed on the Nasdaq, which has been a silent witness to strong growth. For the second quarter of the fiscal, the company saw revenue of $211 million, or 24.3% more than the corresponding year-over-year period. Its profit for the period has also grown manifold, to $17.9 million from $2 million witnessed in the same quarter last year.
Strategic Implications
The deal underlines MakeMyTrip’s intent to solidify its hold in the market of corporate travel and expense management. Happay’s capabilities will add to MakeMyTrip’s portfolio, making it more comprehensive for the corporate client. Retaining the payments vertical is a strategic decision for CRED. Moving the business will allow CRED to focus on its cutting-edge payment solutions while this expense management business will be moved out to Happay.
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