Ecommerce site Blibli acquires online travel agent Tiket

Blibli announced the acquisition of Tiket at a joint event in Jakarta today. Photo credit: Blibli.

Indonesian online travel agent Tiket has been acquired by Blibli, an ecommerce site backed by Indonesian tobacco conglomerate Djarum.

The firms announced this at a joint event in Jakarta today. It’s a 100 percent takeover, but no further details on the deal were disclosed.

Blibli, an ecommerce site with a diverse range of products, began branching out into travel at the end of last year. With this acquisition, it can fast-track growth in this segment.

Tiket is a popular ticket booking site that offers flights, train tickets, hotels, car rentals, and concert tickets. It was launched in 2011 and took pride in being built on angel funding only and not taking on multiple rounds of venture capital.

Its largest competitor in Indonesia is Traveloka, which has raised funding from Rocket Internet-backed Global Founders Capital, among other VCs.

Tiket was co-founded by Natali Ardianto, Wenas Agusetiawan, Dimas Surya Yaputra, and Mikhael Gaery Undarsa.

“The founders are looking forward to pursuing our dream and goal together with Blibli,” Undarsa told Tech in Asia. “All the management team will stay intact. Everyone will retain their original position.”

He added that, after several months of discussion, the parties finally settled on an acquisition rather than an investment. “Both parties agreed that acquisition is the way to go due to potential collaboration and deep synergy with Blibli. On another note,  Blibli already has Blibli Travel, so acquisition was  definitely the preferred action as it will eliminate the issue of competition.”

The core team remains in their respective positions, with Undarsa as CCO and Natali Ardianto as CTO. There’s one change at the top though. Post-acquisition, George Hendrata will be Tiket’s new CEO. He is also business development director at Djarum and chairman of BMJ, one of the world’s largest specialty paper companies. He replaces Jonggi Manalu, who was the former CEO of Tiket and is going into retirement, according to Undarsa.

With additional reporting by Danang Setiaji.

Update June 16 11:00 am: Added statements from Tiket co-founder Mikhael Gaery Undarsa.