India’s Sify acquires Globe Travels

Sify, an established Internet, network and e-Commerce services company in India, has acquired Globe Travels, an online issuer of e-tickets in the India-US travel space. This acquisition marks Sify’s entry into the fast growing online travel business.

R Ramaraj, chief executive officer, Sify Ltd, said, “This strategic acquisition brings into our fold fast growing services that enhance our online offerings to customers, and opens up new sources of revenue.”

Surya Mantha, senior vice-president, Portals, said, “The addition of a travel portal is in line with our strategy of providing end-to-end services to Sify users. We believe we are well positioned to emerge as leading player in the online travel space with the unmatched reach afforded by the 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities, 200,000 home broadband customers, and Sify’s leading online properties including www.SifyMax.in, www.Sify.com and www.Samachar.com, the popular portal for global Indians”.

The company says its is particularly well-placed with 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities from which more than a million people accessed the Internet in the last quarter. Each of these iWay cyber cafes can operate as an e-store from where existing and new customers can make online travel arrangements or purchase e-tickets.

“Add to this some 200,000 broadband the popular online portals www.sify.com, www.sifmax.in and the most popular site for global Indians www.samachar.com, and this strategic acquisition can be leveraged well to provide value for Sify’s users, while adding additional revenue streams for the company,” says the company.