Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, e-governance and healthcare industries, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) Business of YouFirst Money Express Private Limited. This is Ebix's second acquisition over the last few days, following the announcement of the acquisition of MTSS assets of Wall Street Finance Limited on 17th of August.
With a market share of almost 15% percent of Western Union's inward remittance flows in India, YouFirst is the third largest international remittance player in India. The acquisition of YouFirst and Wall Street MTSS inward remittance assets, gives Ebix approximately 25% of the inward international remittance market in India, further strengthening Ebix's position in the Financial Exchange market in the country. Ebix intends to consolidate both these acquisitions into its Financial Exchange operations bringing significant synergies and reducing redundancies to the combined operation.
The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Ebix earnings immediately. The Company funded the transaction using its internal cash reserves.
With 75,000+ physical retail outlets for ItzCash's financial exchange, the two acquisitions increase that distribution reach substantially to over 94,000 outlets across the country. Ebix's ItzCash service is already the largest domestic remittance exchange in India with domestic remittance volume of approximately $100 million per month.
Ebix's ItzCash exchange is a recognized leader in prepaid cards, domestic remittances and bill payments, processing approximately 600,000 transactions per day and approximately $2 Billion in annual payment volume.
Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina. "Following up on the Wall Street Finance's MTSS assets acquisition announcement a few days back, the acquisition of YouFirst is a significant announcement in our efforts to expand our presence in the Financial Exchange markets in India. It will not only help expand our reach, but also help nurture cross selling and increased revenue opportunities for our distribution outlets. We expect that the consolidation of YouFirst and Wall Street assets into our existing Financial Exchange infrastructure will enhance our operating margins substantially, in the Financial Exchange segment in India."
About Ebix, Inc.
A leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, e-governance and healthcare industries, Ebix, Inc. provides end-to-end on-Demand solutions ranging from infrastructure exchanges, front end & back end enterprise systems, outsourced administrative & custom software development solutions, and risk compliance solutions for various entities involved in these industries.
With 40+ offices across Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, the US and the UK, Ebix powers multiple exchanges across the world in the field of life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance while conducting in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums annually on its platforms. Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs hundreds of domain specific business and technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.ebix.com
About YouFirst Money Express Private Ltd
YouFirst Money Express Pvt. Ltd (YMEL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of YouFirst Ventures Pvt. Ltd, promoted by former Citibanker and RCap Executive Vikrant Gugnani. It is engaged in the business of international inward remittance under the MTSS license from RBI and foreign exchange under the FFMC license from RBI. With a market share of almost 15% percent of Western Union's India inward remittance flows, YMEL is the third largest player in India. With its own network of 36 MTSS Branches and over 10,000 sub-agents across India, YMEL handles over 2.3 million transactions annually with an annual throughput of over USD 800 million. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.youfirst.co.in
About ItzCash
An Ebix Group Company now, ItzCash Card Ltd., India's leading Digital Payments fintech was established in 2006. A pioneer in the prepaid payments in India, ItzCash initiated the concept of 'digital cash' to the Indian consumer and various business entities, heralding the beginning towards enabling a cashless transacting society. ItzCash continues to build on its innovation augmenting its product portfolio offering wide choice of payments and money transfer service having issued 110 million accounts to date. It constantly invests in upgrading technology towards creating world-class Omni-channel payments platforms for the emerging India. ItzCash has presence across consumer segments serving 35 million consumers annually and over 75,000 franchisees branded as "ItzCash World" in 3000+ cities and towns. For further details, visit www.itzcash.com
