Adani Buys 30% Stake In Railway Ticketing Startup Trainman, No Clarity On Complete Takeover

SUMMARY

Adani Group said its subsidiary Adani Digital Labs has acquired 29.81% stake in Trainman in an all-cash deal for INR 3.56 Cr

The development comes less than a month after Adani Group said it would acquire 100% stake in the startup

In its latest filing, Adani referred to Trainman as an ecommerce and website development company as against online train booking and information platform last month

Almost a month after announcing its plan to acquire 100% stake in railway ticketing startup Trainman, Adani Group on Saturday (July 8) said it has acquired a 29.81% stake in it.

In a regulatory filing, Adani Group said its subsidiary Adani Digital Labs has acquired a 29.81% stake in Stark Enterprises, the parent company of Trainman, for an all-cash deal of INR 3.56 Cr.

“In continuation to our earlier intimation dated 16th June, 2023, we would like to inform that Adani Digital Labs…, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has acquired 29.81% stake of Stark Enterprises…on 7th July, 2023,” said the company.

It could not be ascertained if the conglomerate intends to complete 100% stake acquisition in the startup in multiple tranches. Inc42 has reached out to Adani Group for a comment on the issue, the story will be updated on receiving a response.

Another issue that raised eyebrows was that Adani Group referred to Trainman as an ‘e-commerce and website development’ company in its latest filing. Last month, it had referred to the startup as an ’online train booking and information platform’.

However, on Saturday, Adani Group reiterated that the strategic acquisition was aimed at enhancing its travel business.

Founded in 2016 by Vineet Chirania and Karan Kumar, Trainman is an online booking platform that allows users to book train tickets. It also offers train-related information to users such as PNR status, train running status, timetable, coach position, among others.

The startup was last valued at INR 80 Cr and raised $1 Mn in funding in July 2023.

Trainman’s net loss rose 6X to INR 1.2 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 21 Lakh in FY21. Its revenue doubled to INR 2.5 Cr in FY22 from INR 1.23 Cr in FY21.

The acquisition will largely help Adani Group complement its existing travel business and deploy Trainman’s tech stack to further shore up its travel vertical.

However, this is not Adani Group’s first venture in the travel space. In late 2021, it reportedly acquired a 20% stake in Flipkart-owned online travel aggregator ClearTrip. A year later in December 2022, it announced the launch of its flight ticket and cab booking platform, Adani One.

The new acquisition adds another travel platform to its kitty as it looks to build an overarching superapp ecosystem for its users.