Zomato confirms plans to acquire Paytm’s movie ticket booking business

Restaurant aggregator Zomato has confirmed that it is in talks to acquire online payments platform Paytm’s movies and events ticketing business vertical.

In a filing to the stock exchanges on June 16, the food delivery giant said that it is holding discussions to purchase the movie ticket booking business of Paytm, which is owned by One97 Communications.

The company, however, added that while it plans to acquire the ticketing business vertical, no binding decision has been taken regarding the same.

"We acknowledge that we are in discussions with Paytm for the aforementioned transaction, however, no binding decision has been taken at this stage that would warrant a Board approval and subsequent disclosure in accordance with applicable law," Zomato said in the filing.

The company also mentioned in the release that it plans to strengthen its ‘going-out’ business and that the decision is in-line with the company’s key businesses.

“The above discussion is being undertaken with the intent to strengthen our going-out business further and is in line with our stated position of focusing only on our four key businesses currently,” Zomato said.

Meanwhile, in an official release, Paytm's parent One97 Communications said that the discussions are preliminary and don’t involve binding agreements which require approval or disclosure.

“As noted in our earnings call, our focus will be on payment and financial services along with digital goods commerce, which are designed to help our merchants scale their businesses. However, any discussions currently underway are preliminary and do not involve any binding agreements that require approval or disclosure under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, or other applicable laws. As such, any information pertaining to these discussions should be considered speculative at this time,” Paytm said on June 16.

Earlier reports suggested that Paytm is negotiating the sale of its movie and ticketing division as a part of a strategic overhaul and the deal could value Paytm’s movie and events business at nearly ₹1500 crore.

If the two companies go ahead with the deal, it could be the second largest acquisition for Zomato after its purchase of quick commerce platform Blinkit (formerly Grofers) in 2021.

Zomato’s shares closed at ₹186.19 apiece, up by 0.68%, on the NSE on Friday.