Intercity car rental service provider Savaari said that travel aggregating platform MakeMyTrip (MMT) has completed the transaction to acquire a majority stake in the company. 

MakeMyTrip announced in its second quarter FY23-24 results that it has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Savaari Car Rentals Private Limited.  

Savaari will continue to operate as an independent entity led by the existing leadership team, the company said in a statement. 

“This acquisition marks a pivotal moment in the $3 billion-plus, yet largely unorganised, intercity market. We are now looking to transform this space by leveraging technology as well as deeper consumer understanding from MakeMyTrip,” said Gaurav Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Savaari Car Rentals. 

“The inter-city cab service remains largely offline, with low online penetration, fragmented supply, and a lack of standardization in service.  We have encountered similar issues in intercity private bus transport where we now have a leadership position through redBus. With this majority stake in Savaari, we seek to extend that leadership to adjacent segments in ground transport,” said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip.  

Prakash Sangam, CEO of redBus, will lead this initiative from the MMT group’s perspective and work closely with the leadership team of Savaari to scale this business to new heights, the company added in a statement. 

MakeMyTrip announced its unaudited financial results of the third quarter for FY2023-24, travel aggregating platform MakeMyTrip Limited witnessed a substantial growth of 21.7 per cent Year-over-Year (YoY) in constant currency. Its gross bookings reached $2,088.3 million in Q3 FY24, up from $1,738.2 million in Q3 FY23.   

The company claimed that this was its highest-ever quarterly gross bookings, revenue, and profit, showcasing remarkable success in key performance indicators. It attributed this performance to robust travel demand during the seasonal quarter. 

MakeMyTrip's adjusted operating profit demonstrated a substantial YoY growth of 69.5 per cent, reaching $33.4 million in Q3 FY24 compared to $19.7 million in Q3 FY23.