Alibaba Pictures Acquires Majority Stake in TicketNew

Chennai, June 5, 2017 : Alibaba Group’s flagship unit of entertainment arm, Alibaba Pictures Group Limited acquired a majority stake in India’s second largest online ticketing platform, TicketNew. Marking Alibaba Pictures’ first big acquisition in the burgeoning internet ticketing industry outside of China, this strategic partnership will strengthen TicketNew’s operations and service portfolio.
Founded in 2007 by Mr. Ramkumar Nammalvar, TicketNew is a Chennai based ticketing website that has presence in over 300+ cities in India. The company holds a strong position in the movie ticketing space in the country due to its unmatched network of neighbourhood theatres to large cinema chains across urban and rural areas.
In the last few years, Alibaba Pictures has expanded its businesses beyond its home market. It has an office in Los Angeles, USA and has been looking to expand its footprints in Asia-Pacific regions. In India, online movie ticketing is becoming increasingly popular, with increasing penetrations in tier2 and tier3 regions. The strategic partnership between Alibaba Pictures and TicketNew can be mutually beneficial. Given Alibaba Pictures’ operational knowhow and financial resources, the partnership can potentially help strengthen the leadership and market share of TicketNew in the ecommerce ticketing space and enable the company to capitalize on the burgeoning consumer market in India.
Mr. Ramkumar Nammalvar, Founder and CEO of TicketNew, who will continue to spearhead the business for TicketNew, said: Alibaba plans to invest to the tune of Rs. 120 crores over a period of time “We are delighted to work with Alibaba Pictures. This secures the future of our staff and the company for generations to come. “
“The online ticketing is increasingly becoming popular in tier2 and tier3 regions of India as well. The latest phenomenal movie Baahubali-2 has witnessed over 50 percentage of our ticket sale in tier2 and tier3 market, while the overall sales stands as the best ever done at TicketNew. Whilst we have already established our footprint strongly in southern market, the partnership with Alibaba Pictures will take our service to every big and small region of India thus emerging as number one player in India.” He added.
Mr. Sasiraman Venkatesan, CTO of TicketNew said, we are a strong and growing force in India and, with Alibaba Pictures behind us, we will develop and grow our business at a much faster rate with the benefit of its global network, resources and technology.”