Ward Ferry, the hedge fund based in Hong
Kong, is in discussions to pick up a share in Treebo, the online budget
hotel chain. This will be done Wand Ferry for its ongoing 3rd round of
funding where it may lift almost Rs 192 crore or $30 Million, as per 2
sources having a deep knowledge of this matter.
Ward Ferry also embraces shares in Huazhu
Hotels Group, the listed Chinese budget hotel chain, and MakeMyTrip,
the largest online travel agent in India.
Sources having a deep knowledge of this
matter claimed that it was in higher stages with Ward Ferry seeking to
spend $20 Million into the firm. Treebo is also claimed to be seeking
for a co-investor who could take part in the round of funding with an
extra sum of $10 Million.
For this, the company has been in talks with Fosun. Fosun is a sponsor in MakeMyTrip and Ixigo, the travel marketplaces.
Sidharth Gupta, co-founder of Treebo,
claimed that he did not wish to speak on the current investment. The
firm had earlier lifted $17 Million in July 2016, which was guided by
Bertelssman India Investments. SAIF Partners and Matrix Partners India
are premature sponsors in the firm.
Both Fosun and Ward Ferry executives did not react to emailed questions from the media and refused to comment on the topic.
Treebo operates on a complete inventory
prototype that includes prescribing quality standards, selecting hotel
properties, and offering the staff with technology back-end and training
for hotel operations. The firm, established in 2015, presently has more
than 250 properties and 6,000 rooms on its platform all around 50
important cities.
It contends with FabHotels, the
Accel-backed firm, and OYO Rooms, the SoftBank-backed firm, on boarding
the whole property rather than a part of a hotel of the room inventory.
OYO Rooms has also moved its focus to a leasing prototype.
The branded budget hotel market of $20
Billion in India is anticipated to boost a huge share of income even for
Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). MakeMyTrip lately got Treebo properties
removed for its list from its website, mentioning competition as the
reason.
