Fintech Infibeam Avenues to acquire controlling stake in Rediff.com

Payments solution provider Infibeam Avenues on Friday announced that it will acquire 54 per cent stake in news website Rediff.com India, as the company plans to expand its consumer facing business. The Gandhinagar-based fintech major, which operates payment gateway CCAvenue, will acquire the stake for Rs 50 crore, which will be equally divided into equity and debt. 

Rediff has about 55 million monthly visitors on its website, and over 5,000 companies use its email services. The acquisition will offer Infibeam Avenues insights into user behaviour, preferences, and spending patterns, allowing the fintech firm opportunities to cross-sell financial services such as loans, insurance and investment products.

 

This is a significant deal in the Indian digital space, as Rediff.com, founded in 1996, was the first Indian internet firm to be listed on Nasdaq in 2000.   

In 2000, when Rediff.com was about to get listed, the internet firm that provided email, news, and ecommerce services was valued at $300 million to $500 million. The company was delisted from Nasdaq in 2016. Rediff's FY24 revenue came in at Rs 36 crore.

The Gandhinagar-based company plans to expand its payment aggregator business backed by the news website’s cloud-based enterprise email storage, instant messaging platform and ecommerce services.  

“We have publicly said that we are getting into the financial distribution and cloud services with this particular synergy. This particular acquisition is more about cloud services and the value-added services of financial distributions,” Vishal Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, Infibeam Avenues told Business Standard.  

It is expected to improve user enhancement on the platform and open new revenue streams, said Mehta. 

The company plans to monetise cloud services in the upcoming quarters. 

“We believe that the value of these services should account for 2 to 4 per cent of our revenues for this year. We would like to take it up to at least 8-10 per cent in coming quarters,” Mehta added. 

In the first quarter of financial year 2025 (Q1FY25), Infibeam’s revenue from operations were pegged at Rs 752.7 crore, a marginal 1.4 per cent increase from Rs 742.3 crore in Q1FY24 on a consolidated basis. 

Infibeam plans to combine its digital payment services, platform business offerings, and artificial intelligence solutions with Rediff.com’s services.

The acquisition would enable the company to create a digital environment that involves financial transactions and content consumption.  

“I am delighted to pass on this iconic brand and its legacy into the capable hands of Vishal Mehta, Infibeam Avenues. I strongly believe that the new avatar of Rediff under his leadership will further strengthen the company and accelerate business growth,” said Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman and CEO, Rediff.com.  

Balakrishnan will continue to be involved in Rediff’s day-to-day operations for the next few quarters to advise the firm, a person close to the development added, requesting anonymity. 

Eye on Cloud 

> Acquisition amount pegged at Rs 50 crore; divided in equity, debt

> Infibeam expects to monetise Cloud services with the acquisition

> Firm expects income from Cloud to be 8-10% of its total revenues

> Rediff has 55 mn monthly visitors, 5,000 firms use its email services