MakeMyTrip acquires European startup for $5 million to boost global hotel booking offerings

Indian online travel agent MakeMyTrip (NASDAQ:MMYT) has acquired the Netherlands-based hotel booking site EasyToBook. MakeMyTrip’s disclosure to investors notes that it purchased the startup and invested a sum of money into it, and the total spent comes to $5 million.

MakeMyTrip will take advantage of its ownership of the hotel-specialist site to “enhance the international hotel room offerings for customers traveling overseas, particularly to Europe which is a key tourist destination for Indians.” It’ll also work the other way around, with EasyToBook apparently set to add more Indian listings.

MakeMyTrip is India’s biggest travel site. Despite making a net loss of $9.1 million in its Q2 2013 financials, the company saw a 51.5 percent year-on-year increase in revenue from hotel bookings and package tours. That’s the fastest-growing segment for the site, which might have spurred the Indian firm to strengthen its hand with this acquisition.

(Hat-tip to Medianama for spotting this)

(Editing by Josh Horwitz)