India cinema
India cinemaReuters

In a move to consolidate its presence in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, BookMyShow has acquired MastiTickets, a Hyderabad-based online ticket booking platform, for an undisclosed amount.

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The deal will include the transfer of MastiTickets' key assets along with existing cinema partnerships to BookMyShow. 

The acquisition of MastiTickets, which was founded in 2014 by Ravi Narla, will provide BookMyShow access to 120 screens in the two states.

"The acquisition will help us further consolidate our position and strengthen our footprint. We work with 530 cinemas in these two States and have added 175 of these in the last 12 months alone," BookMyShow CEO and co-founder Ashish Hemrajani told PTI.

Earlier in 2013, BookMyShow had acquired Chennai-based online ticketing player TicketGreen and in 2015, the ticketing platform took a majority stake in Eventifier, a Bengaluru-based social media analytics start-up. Last year, BookMyShow bought Chennai-based fan
relationship management (FRM) solutions provider Fantain Sports.

"We have charted an aggressive growth plan to increase BookMyShow's reach and presence and the acquisition of MastiTickets fit perfectly into its expansion strategy. Hyderabad particularly has been a high performing market for us," he said. 

The small team of seven to eight people working for MastiTickets would likely be absorbed by BookMyShow.