Ebix to Acquire Indian Travel Company Yatra for $337.8M

Ebix, Inc. and Yatra Online, Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Ebix will acquire Yatra via merger. The transaction implies an enterprise value of $337.8m.

Ebix is an international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries. Yatra Online is the parent company of Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd., India’s leading Corporate Travel services provider and one of India’s leading online travel companies. Following the completion of the transaction, Yatra will become part of Ebix’s EbixCash travel portfolio alongside Via and Mercury and will continue to serve customers under the Yatra brand. The transaction will create India’s largest and most profitable travel services company, and a leading online travel platform poised to capture significant international growth opportunities.

“The acquisition of Yatra would lend itself to significant synergies and the emergence of EbixCash as India’s largest and most profitable travel services company, besides being the largest enterprise financial exchange in the country. Over the last few months, we have evolved a detailed synergistic plan, that once fully executed can provide between 40 to 75 cents of accretion to the Ebix non-GAAP EPS. We are excited by the cross-selling opportunities that this combination provides us, while further strengthening our future EbixCash IPO offering.” – Robin Rain, Ebix chairman, president and CEO.

“We are pleased to announce this agreement with Ebix, which provides our shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the significant upside potential of one of the fastest growing multinational On-Demand software and E-commerce services companies in the world. Over the last several years, we have built Yatra into one of India’s most well-recognized e-commerce brands, growing into the leading corporate travel services provider and one of the largest consumer travel companies. Becoming a part of Ebix’s EbixCash travel portfolio will enable us to continue on that path. As part of a larger diversified organization with the necessary scale and resources to be a leader in today’s dynamic travel marketplace, we will provide more options and an enhanced experience for our joint customers and will be an even stronger partner to the airline, hotel, car rental and other businesses we work with. We are confident that combining Yatra’s loyal customer base, comprehensive service offering and multi-channel platform with Ebix’s complementary Via and Mercury businesses, will create a leading online travel platform and India’s largest corporate travel platform that will capture growth opportunities and deliver enhanced value to shareholders.” – Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder and CEO of Yatra Online.

Strategic and Financial Benefits of the Transaction:

• Accelerates Growth Potential as a Premier International Travel Services Provider. Under Ebix’s leading travel platform, the combined company will leverage Yatra’s large and loyal existing customer base, comprehensive service offering and multi-channel platform to take advantage of the dynamic and growing multibillion-dollar opportunity in India. The combined company will have an international footprint with more than 11,000 employees and a travel expanse spanning GCC, ASEAN and Asia Pacific countries. The transaction also provides the necessary scale to extend its travel business to North America, Latin America and Europe. Together, Ebix and Yatra will be a comprehensive global platform with “on-the-ground” presence in major markets worldwide.
• Creates World’s Leading End-to-End Enterprise Financial and Insurance Services Provider. Given the highly complementary nature of each company’s travel platform, the combined entity will create India’s largest end-to-end travel industry provider, offering distribution, travel insurance, forex, MICE, Visa, and travel technology services. Combining Yatra’s loyal customer base, comprehensive service offering and multi-channel platform with Ebix’s complementary Via and Mercury businesses, creates a leading online travel platform that will capture cross selling growth opportunities across the EbixCash portfolio of products an customers, while delivering enhanced value to shareholders.
• Delivers Short and Long-Term Financial Benefits. The transaction is expected to be 40 to 75 cents accretive to Ebix’s non-GAAP earnings per share within a period of 6 to 12 months from closing, once all the mutual synergies have been executed. Ebix has a proven track record of successfully integrating acquired products, services and companies in a highly disciplined and efficient manner, with resulting cash flow and earnings per share being key endpoint metrics and generating significant shareholder value.
• Creation of India’s Largest Financial and Travel EbixCash Exchange. Ebix intends to make Yatra an integral part of the EbixCash financial and travel exchange portfolio, while targeting an EbixCash IPO in the second quarter of 2020. The synergies and the cross-selling opportunities can create tremendous economic value for the shareholders, once the IPO is done.