China online ticketing sites Weiying Times, Gewara to merge
Chinese movie ticket-booking platforms Beijing Weiying Times Technology and Gewara – both of which have received several rounds of funding from VC and strategic investors – have agreed to merge.
Founded in 2010, Weiying operates the mobile app Weipiao, which enables users to buy tickets for cinema, sporting and other events - either directly or through Tencent's social networking app WeChat. It claims to have partnerships with 4,500 movie theaters and 1,200 stadium and exhibition centers. It also collaborates with the Chinese Super League and the Chinese Basketall Association.
The company raised $105 million in Series B funding in April from Tencent, Wanda Group and Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television Fund. Last month, Weipiao completed a Series C round worth RMB1.5 billion ($234 million) led by the government-backed Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television Fund.
Other new investors included CITICS Prosperity Fund, a joint venture fund between CITIC Securities and China Jingu International Trust, GGV Capital, China Southern Asset Management, Gopher Asset Management and New Hope Group. Tencent and Wanda also participated.
Gewara was founded in 2007 and provides ticketing services for movies, concerts and other leisure activities. It has partnerships with more than 1,000 movie theaters in over 200 cities, and claims to have 40 million active users on its platform.
Gewara raised an undisclosed amount from Shanda Capital and CDH Investments in 2012, AVCJ Research's records show. Last year, it secured $52 million in a Series C funding from CDH and CMC Capital Partners.
The two companies follow different strategies, with Gewara enjoying a larger market shares in top-tier Chinese cities, while Weipiao has expanded aggressively in tier-three and tier-four locations, in part due to the WeChat connection.
In this sense there are similarities with other mergers in the online-to-offline (O2O) services space - Dianping has traditionally been stronger in first-tier cities than one-time rival Meituan. The two companies agreed to join forces two months ago. This followed the earlier merger of ride-hailing app operators Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache.
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