ibibo is said to be in the final stages of acquiring redbus - India's favorite bus ticketing website for a cool sum of Rs. 610 cr. According to the sources closer to both the companies, the deal is closer to completion. The ibibo group is powered by South Africa's Naspers and Chinese Tencent. Phanindra Sama has denied to comment on the leak.

Redbus was reportedly looking to rise about $20 million from PE players. ibibo is already trying to go heavy on ticketing systems in India and RedBus would definitely give them a huge lift.

It's expected that the official announcement will be made on June 25th.

I personally think it'd have been great to see RedBus scale up on its own and take over complete ticketing system in India - from Buses to Railways to cabs to Airplanes. The insiders would of course have a better view of how the things were planned and whether getting acquired is the best thing to do.

While the acquisition might offer a great deal for the investors, company founders and hopefully for the current staff at redbus, I think I'd have loved to see an Indian company growing bigger through acquisitions.

I'm adding a quick poll - so that members can vote whether they want redbus to get acquired or just continue growing on its own.