Ashish Kashyap, president of MakeMyTrip Ltd, has resigned from India’s largest online travel operator, the Nasdaq-listed company announced in a brief statement late on Wednesday. 

 
In a filing submitted with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Kashyap’s resignation had been accepted, and will come into effect from September 30th. It also said Kashyap, as part of an agreement signed with, both, MakeMyTrip Ltd and Ibibo Group, had agreed to a non-compete and non-solicitation obligations for a period of one year. 
 
Kashyap, who had assumed the role of president and co-founder, post the Gurgaon-based company’s acquisition of its smaller rival, Ibibo Group, in October last year, was one of the main architects, along with MakeMyTrip Group CEO Deep Kalra, of a deal that is widely perceived to be the largest in the Indian internet space. 
 
It’s been a decade-long journey. Post the merger, the next step was to build something new, and integrating the brand, and that has been done. The structure is set, and the business is at a high point. Therefore, the timing is just perfect,” Kashyap told ET. 
 
His resignation comes a little less than a year after the two companies announced their intention to merge in an all-stock deal valued at $1.8-$2 billion. At the time, as part of the deal, South Africa’s Naspers and Tencent, which own Ibibo, became the largest shareholders in the combined entity with a 40% stake. 
 
In January earlier this year, the deal received the necessary clearances from the Competition Commission of India, formally bringing all brands of the Ibibo Group such as Goibibo, redBus, Ryde and Rightstay under MakeMyTrip. 
 
 
Ashish has made immense contribution in bringing the MakeMyTrip-ibibo deal to fruition and setting a strong foundation for the future success of the combined group. At this juncture, I respect his passion for creating and nurturing new and innovative ideas and we wish him the best for the future,” Kalra said. 
 
 
MakeMyTrip did not name Kashyap's successor in its statement. 
 
Kashyap, a DPS Mathura Road, alum, who also holds an economics degree from Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College and a Masters from McGill University, has been one of the most active entrepreneurs in the Indian startup ecosystem. 
 
He spent three years at Times Internet, the digital arm of Bennett Coleman and Co, the publisher of The Economic Times, before moving to Google in 2005. Post his stint at Google, he set up Ibibo Group, which was initially created as a greenfield incubator, in partnership with Naspers, before evolving into an online travel business. 
 
 
For the first quarter of fiscal 2018, MakeMyTrip posted a loss of $68.5 million, or 70 cents a share on a diluted basis, in the quarter ending June 30, 2017, compared with $14.3 million, or 34 cents per share, in the year-ago period. 
 
Shares of the company were trading flat at $34.72 in morning trade on Wednesday on Nasdaq. 

Auth :Kishore
  • Tags: Ashish Kashyap,online travel operator