India, April 14 -- Ecommerce major Flipkart is in the final stages of acquiring online travel aggregator Cleartrip, a deal which is likely to value the latter at around $40 Mn.

Adding to the speculation about the acquisition that emerged early last month, fresh reports on the deal claim it would be a distress sale for the 15-year-old Mumbai-based online ticketing agent and hotel booking portal. One of the oldest ticketing platforms in India, Cleartrip is facing a severe downturn amid the Covid-19 induced lull in the travel and hospitality sector, according to an ET report.

Founded in 2006 by Hrush Bhatt, Matthew Spacie and Stuart Crighton, to date, Cleatrip has raised $56.4 Mn in six funding rounds from six investors. The company last r...