Ebix acquires Paul Merchants’ international remittance business for $40.7 million

Nasdaq-listed Ebix Inc has acquired Paul Merchants’ international remittance business for $40.7 million. This is the third acquisition by Ebix in the past two months in the international remittance segment, giving it a 60 per cent market share and leadership position in this segment in India.

In August, Ebix acquired the money transfer service scheme (MTSS) business of YouFirst Money Express Private Ltd. Ebix also acquired the MTSS assets of Wall Street Finance Ltd.

Meanwhile, as part of the latest transaction, Paul Merchants will take a 10 per cent stake in Ebix’s combined international remittance business entity in India for cash consideration. The combined entity will house the MTSS assets of Paul Merchants, YouFirst and Wall Street Finance, it is learnt.

Once approved, the Ebix acquisition of MTSS business of Paul Merchants is expected to be accretive to the Nasdaq-listed company's earnings immediately. This acquisition has been funded using Ebix’s internal accruals. No investment bankers were used for the transaction.

Commenting on the latest acquisition, Bhavik Vasa, Chief Growth Officer, ItzCash, told BusinessLine that this was the largest MTSS deal in value terms so far by Ebix Inc after its acquisition of ItzCash.

Ebix’s ItzCash Financial Exchange is now the largest digital payments and money transfer player (international and domestic) in India, he said.

Paul Merchants, which is listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange, is the largest international remittance player in India with market share of almost 35 per cent of Western Union’s inward remittance flows into India.

Ebix Inc, after acquiring 80 per cent of ItzCash, had announced that it had put together a $100 million growth fund for India. After this announcement, Ebix Inc had been actively making investments both organic and inorganic in India.

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