Ebix acquires Yatra for $239 Million

Nasdaq listed Ebix Inc., a supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services has acquired online travel portal Yatra Online Inc., for an enterprise value of $239 Million, in an all-stock deal.

However, Yatra will continue to be independently run and will retain its brand and status in India. Ebix makes software for the insurance, financial and healthcare industries. Its Indian subsidiary EbixCash bought Mumbai-based Mercury Travels and Delhi-based Leisure Corp last year with an aim to create a travel division focused on luxury, events and sports-related travelers.

The deal marks Ebix biggest acquisition till date in India. Ebix entered India with the purchase of an 80% stake in ItzCash for Rs800 crore from Essel Group and other shareholders in May 2017. Since then, the company has acquired a dozen companies across sectors such as remittance, travel, foreign exchange, and education. In August, it spent Rs1,200 crore to acquire Centrum Group’s forex business Centrum Direct Ltd.

Ebix has also acquired a bunch of companies in the travel space. In November 2017, it had spent around $75 million to acquire online travel portal Via.com. In the same month, it acquired Mumbai-based Mercury Travels and Delhi-based Leisure Corp. for $14.2 million to create a niche vertical, which will focus on luxury, events and sports-related travelers.

Ebix to acquire travel portal Via.com

Ebix Inc., a supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services to the Insurance, financial, e-governance and healthcare industries and one of its Singapore subsidiaries agreed to acquire Via.com, an online travel and assisted e-commerce exchange.

The acquisition of Via expands Ebix’s distribution network to over 224,000 outlets in South-east Asia, besides offering significant cross-selling opportunities for Ebix’s EbixCash (earlier ItzCash) Financial Exchange portfolio of products. The transaction values Via at a total enterprise value of approximately $74.9 million.

The company entered the Indian market with the purchase of an 80% stake in ItzCash for Rs800 crore from Essel Group and other shareholders in May. Since the ItzCash acquisition, Ebix has spent an additional $60-65 million in acquiring remittance businesses in the country. The acquisition will boost Ebix’s presence in the travel space, while also allowing for geographic expansion given that Via.com has a significant presence in South-east Asia.

Ebix will consolidate this acquisition into EbixCash to derive synergies and cross-selling opportunities. The Via distribution network encompasses over 85,000 agents in India, 14,700 agents in Indonesia, 9,900 agents in the Philippines, 600 agents in Singapore and 350 agents in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Ebix acquired Paul Merchants

Ebix Inc., the parent firm of digital payments company Itz Cash Card Ltd, has acquired the money transfer business of Paul Merchants Ltd through its Indian affiliate. The deal, valued at $40.7 Million. The acquisition will be done by YouFirst Money Express Pvt. Ltd, which was acquired by Ebix in August 2017.

Paul Merchants is a listed firm offering international money transfer and foreign exchange services. The company’s inward remittance exchange comprises over 20,000 distribution outlets and 165 branches. The firm processes about 6 million transactions every year. It also controls 35% of Western Union’s inward remittance flows into India. Paul Merchants operates as an agent of Western Union and is the largest international remittance firm in India.

While Ebix ItzCash is the largest domestic remittance firm in the country, handling a business volume of $100 million a month, the acquisition of Paul Merchants will serve to consolidate Ebix’s position as the largest international remittance firm in India. Ebix is present in more than 40 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, the US and the UK. The company powers multiple platforms across the world in the field of life, annuity, health, property and casualty insurance, processing over $100 billion in insurance premiums annually.

The transaction will increase the distribution network of Ebix ItzCash as well. ItzCash already has over 75,000 physical retail outlets. After the acquisition is completed, the outlets will number 114,000. ItzCash is a digital payments firm offering payment services like prepaid cards, money transfer and e-wallet to individual customers. The company offers cash management solutions and payment processing services to companies. It also provides services like collection and disbursement management services to the government. ItzCash was acquired by Ebix in May this year for a consideration of Rs800 crore.