Time Out Group buys London events company YPlan
Time Out Group has announced the acquisition of London-based events and ticket booking company YPlan.
YPlan is a "mobile-first" events discovery and booking platform, with a roster of big name backers, including Ashton Kutcher, Pharrell Williams and Stephen Fry. Time Out said that, combined with its high-quality curated content, the addition of YPlan will "enable the company's monthly global audience of 137m to discover, book and share what the world's cities have to offer – faster, easier and better than ever before".
At the time of its IPO in June, Time Out stated it would continue to invest in technology and product to grow e-commerce and expand its team of engineers. The group said today that the YPlan acquisition "is in line with this strategy as it will provide the company with an advanced e-commerce platform which will accelerate and scale its existing e-commerce business".
"Developing e-commerce and monetising our audience is an important element of our ambitious growth strategy," Julio Bruno, chief executive of Time Out Group.
"We acquired YPlan because its advanced technology will significantly accelerate this strategy. It will enable us to offer our large audience more online booking opportunities, whilst improving the user experience.
"We look forward to welcoming the highly skilled YPlan employees to the Time Out team. Together we will be stronger than ever to bring our customers the capabilities to make the most of the city and to make Time Out an even better place to discover, book and share."
Meanwhile, YPlan's founders and former City workers Rytis Vitkauskas and Viktoras Jucikas said: "Today is an exciting day for YPlan as we become part of Time Out, a global media and entertainment company. Both companies are an excellent fit.
"For us as founders, the acquisition is a natural continuation of our vision for YPlan: to enable people to discover and do amazing things, whether in their beloved home cities or while traveling. We're both very proud to join with our team such an iconic brand and to be part of Time Out's next chapter."
Shares in Time Out were up by 2.13 per cent in mid-morning trading.
Read more: YPlan’s Rytis Vitkauskas on pitching to Ashton Kutcher