Sonata buys majority stake in US travel platform

Leading IT services firm Sonata Software Monday announced acquiring majority stake, of about 60 percent for an unspecified sum in the US-based Rezopia Inc, a cloud-based platform for travel providers, founded by an Indian.

"The controlling stake in Rezopia will enable us to leverage opportunities in the travel industry segment in which we have a strong footprint," the city-based Sonata said in a statement here.

In a separate transaction, Sonata will also acquire the businesses of Xyka India Ltd, the primary service provider to Rezopia's platform.

The California-headquartered Rezopia has developed the cloud-based software as a service (SAAS) platform, which allows travel agencies to meet their customer needs, including reservations, contracts and operations.

"In the dynamic and competitive travel industry, technology plays a key role in serving customers. Our partnership with Sonata will allows us to pool strengths and help travel enterprises access solutions with agility and scale to meet their business needs," Rezopia founder Rakesh Hegde said on the occasion.

Travel suppliers like rail, airlines and hotels can also use the platform for selling their inventory and extending their core services with value added offerings such as special package holiday offers, while destination specialists and emerging tour operators can use it as an IT backbone for operations with benefits of low-fixed costs, a dynamic technology roadmap and responsive service.

"The strategic take-over of Rezopia will strengthen our focus on travel and tourism with IP and platform led services. We believe the future of software services lies in blending SAAS models with customised solutions at different stages of an enterprise lifecycle," Sonata chief executive Srikar Reddy said in the statement.

The acquisition will also benefit Rezopia from Sonata's ability to invest in its platform development, its expertise in engineering software products and its engagements with travel customers in different geographies worldwide.

As Sonata has some of the largest tour operators and airlines as its clients, the acquisition will enable it to offer the next-generation platform and mainstream services to meet the changing needs of their business.