Food delivery giant Zomato is in an advanced stage of discussion to acquire Paytm’s movie ticketing and events business, according to a report by The Economic Times citing sources familiar with the matter. The potential deal, which could value Paytm’s vertical at about Rs 1,500 crore, is part of the company’s strategy to double down on its “going out” business.

If Zomato acquires Paytm’s events and ticketing business, it would be its second-biggest purchase ever, after buying Blinkit (formerly Grofers) in 2022 for Rs 4,447 crore, according to the ET report. This move is in line with Zomato’s strategy of expanding into new areas like entertainment, on top of their existing food and grocery delivery services.

“Paytm Movies and Paytm Insider are being merged to bring in synergies between the two teams. The idea is to build this as a single unit… Zomato’s interest in this segment has been there for a while so it fits in very well,” the report quoted a person in the know of the matter as saying.

Paytm is owned by Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s One97 Communications Ltd.

In 2017, Paytm acquired a majority stake in ticketing platform Insider.in, for events and properties, including NH7 Weekender, EDC and The Grub Fest. This enabled all Paytm customers discover a wide selection of events and book instantly.

Recently, One97 Communications’ Paytm Payments Bank faced prohibitory action from banking regulator RBI.