Reliance Capital to sell 16 per cent stake in Yatra.com for Rs 500 crore

Reliance Capital is in talks with 2-3 international investors to sell its 16 per cent stake in leading travel portal Yatra.com for an estimated Rs 500 crore.

The identity of the interested buyers could not be ascertained.

The deal would mark an over 12-times appreciation for this investment by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, which had acquired the stake in the online travel company for Rs 40 crore in 2006.

When contacted, a Reliance Capital spokesperson said: "We continuously evaluate opportunities to unlock the value of our minority investments to enhance shareholders value."

While the spokesperson did not give any further details, sources said that Reliance Cap aims to close the transaction in 4-6 weeks and the deal would put the total valuation of Yatra.com at around $500 million or about Rs 3,000 crore.

Other existing investors in Yatra.com, which has film star Salman Khan as one of its brand ambassadors, include Norwest Venture Partners (30 per cent), TV18 group (10 per cent), Intel Cap (7 per cent) and Valliant Capital (10 per cent).

The management team has also got 6 per cent ownership. Among these, TV18 group is now majority owned by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries group.

In the fast-growing Indian online travel business, Yatra.com competes with Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip, which commands a market value of $1.2 billion.

During 2013-14, MakeMyTrip is estimated to have clocked total transaction value of $1.38 billion on its platforms, against $763 million by Yatra. For the year, the operating income of MakeMyTrip and Yatra stood at $116 million and $51 million, respectively.

Reliance Capital recently announced its plans to focus on core business and is in the process of encashing its minority investments. It is banking on international investors evincing interest in the Indian e-commerce space of late to complete the deal.

Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings and asset management firm BlackRock along with other investors recently invested $100 million in Snapdeal. Japan's SoftBank also invested $627 million in the e-tailer. Homegrown online marketplace Flipkart has also received as much as $1 billion in fresh capital from investors.