Ebix Inc has acquired Yatra Online Inc, for an enterprise value of $337.8 million (Rs 2,323.6 crore) in an all-stock deal. Ebix Inc is the US-based supplier of on-demand software along with e-commerce services to the insurance, healthcare, financial as well as e-learning industries.
Yatra Online Inc, on the other hand is an Indian online travel agency and also a travel search engine based in Gurugram, Haryana and was founded by Dhruv Shringi, Manish Amin and Sabina Chopra in the year 2006.
The two companies have move in into an ultimate agreement under which Ebix is going to acquire Yatra through merger.
The transaction is going to make India’s largest as well as most profitable travel services company. On the other hand, Yatra is going to carry on operating independently and also recollecting its brand as well as its status in India.
Dhruv Shringi, who is the Co-founder and CEO of Yatra Online in a stock exchange filing said, “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,”
The transaction has been accepted totally by Ebix’s as well as Yatra’s Boards of Directors, and it is estimated to close by the fourth quarter of the year 2019. Under the terms of the merger, every single ordinary share of Yatra is going to be allowed to get 0.005 shares of a new class of favoured stock of Ebix (“Ebix Convertible Preferred Stock”).
After the accomplishment of the contract, Yatra is going to turn into a part of Ebix’s EbixCash travel portfolio together with Via and Mercury, and is going to carry on to assist customers under the Yatra brand.
Shringi further added, “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,”
Ebix’s Indian subsidiary EbixCash had also attained Mumbai-based Mercury Travels as well as Delhi-based Leisure Corp in the year 2018 with an aim to begin a travel division devoted to luxury, events and sport-related travellers. This agreement is Ebix’s leading acquisition till date in India.
Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina, also said, “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,”
