Funds advised by Apax Partners have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Indian travel tech company IBS Software from PE major Blackstone for about $450 million.

While the exact quantum of stake that Apax is picking up could not be ascertained, media reports had earlier suggested that Blackstone was seeking to sell its 40% stake in the company at an enterprise valuation of around $2 billion.

Earlier, other PE giants including CVC Capital and Temasek had also placed their bids for Blackstone’s stake in IBS Software.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter.

IBS Software, established in 1997, offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to the global travel and logistics industry, thereby helping travel companies accelerate innovation and drive efficiency across peripheral sectors such as cargo and logistics, flight operations, passenger services, loyalty programmes, cruise operations, and hospitality distribution platforms.

“This investment is an endorsement of our strategy and our commitment and contribution to the industry, and we have a shared vision with Apax for the future of the business,” said V K Mathews, Founder and Executive Chairman of IBS Software, in a statement.

As the travel industry rapidly embraces digitalization, the role of SaaS-based business travel solutions will go up significantly as they enable customers to make travel bookings, manage itineraries, or even file expenses from any device (mobiles, laptops, tablets).

Investors are increasingly looking to drive the expansion plans of travel tech startups in India as business and leisure travel picks up across the globe post-pandemic. Other names of prominent fund managers betting big on the sector include marquee names such as Nexus Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and Tiger Global, among others.

Last year,  Spotnana, a travel-as-a-service platform that helps corporations and agencies personalise bookings, hit the headlines when it raised a whopping $75 million in funding led by Durable Capital Partners LP, with participation from its existing backers.