JOHNS CREEK, Ga., Jan. 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries today announced that its EbixCash World Money Limited subsidiary in India has entered into an agreement to acquire a 74.84% controlling stake in India based Weizmann Forex Limited (BSE: WEIZFOREX). Weizmann Forex is the second largest inward remittance provider besides being one of the four largest Foreign exchange & outward remittance providers in India. The purchase values 100% of Weizmann Forex at $65.94 million, net of $17.51 million of cash remaining in the business. Ebix will be funding the entire transaction in cash, using its existing bank line and internal cash reserves.

EbixCash has also made a public offer to acquire the remaining 25.16% publicly-held Weizmann Forex shares for INR 528 ($7.54) per share, in adherence to SEBI rules, or approximately $21.12 million to public shareholders.

Weizmann will be tightly integrated into the EbixCash Financial Exchange offering in India and abroad. The retained Weizmann executives becoming an integral part of the combined EbixCash remittance and forex leadership team headed by EbixCash World Money Managing Director TC Guruprasad.

For the year ended March 31, 2018, Weizmann reported gross revenues of $1.1 billion, representing approximately $23 million of net revenues from the perspective of Ebix. Ebix believes the Weizmann business can continue to achieve annual growth of 15% or more, with operating margins of 40% or more, once fully integrated. Ebix expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to its earnings. Ebix expects the Weizmann acquisition, once fully integrated within approximately six months, will contribute at least 15 cents per share in additional diluted EPS over a 12-month period.

Weizmann is an Omni-channel exchange that offers a variety of Foreign exchange, outward & inward money remittance and travel insurance products across the length and breadth of India.

• With nearly 25% percent of Western Union's inward remittance flows in India, Weizmann is the second largest inward remittance provider after EbixCash. Ebix intends to consolidate Weizmann into its Financial Exchange operations, expanding its market leadership, while also enabling significant synergies and enhanced operating efficiency for the combined EbixCash inward remittance operation;
• As one of the leaders in India’s foreign exchange market, Weizmann provides a wide spectrum of outward international money remittance services; travel related foreign exchange services including prepaid travel cards, traveler’s checks, foreign currency cash, and demand drafts; and travel insurance to retail and institutional customers;
• The Weizmann network encompasses 700+ districts in India, 186 branches, 21 airport counters at 7 international airports, and 61,000+ customer touch points across the country. It services leading multinationals, large corporate entities, public sector undertakings, banks, large tour operators and retail clients.

Leadership in India’s Financial Exchange markets

• The acquisition of Weizmann establishes EbixCash as the undisputed leader in the inward remittance, outward remittance and foreign exchange markets in India.
• This Weizmann acquisition also complements EbixCash’s Via.com travel exchange offering, enabling the cross selling of Forex and travel services within the organizations.
• The Weizmann exchange will bring thousands of travel agents, large corporates, SMEs and new outlets to EbixCash’s existing travel network offerings. EbixCash through its travel portal Via.com is one of South East Asia’s leading travel exchanges with over 110,000 distribution outlets and 8000 corporate clients, processing over 24.5 million transactions annually.
• The acquisition expands EbixCash’s presence from 25 to 32 international airports in India, exposing the EbixCash brand to a broader base of global travelers while supporting recurring EbixCash World Money Forex Exchange business. The existing EbixCash World Money business had an approximate 70% share of India’s airport Foreign Exchange market. The Company is also in the process of initiating contracts with a number of international airports outside India in countries like UAE.
• The addition of Weizmann expands the EbixCash Financial Exchange footprint from 260,000 physical distribution outlets to 320,000 outlets country-wide. EbixCash also offers an Omni-channel online digital platform that encompasses leadership in money remittance (domestic & international), travel, pre-paid & gift cards, utility payments, etc.
• Weizmann’s corporate business is highly synergistic with EbixCash’s existing corporate business, as it now provides EbixCash the ability to sell Digital Forex and multicurrency cards etc. to its existing thousands of corporate clients. EbixCash’s existing corporate clients are presently provided a variety of offerings including utility payments, corporate gifting, cash management, tele-medicine for employees, travel bookings, and prepaid gift cards etc.
• The addition of the Weizmann Exchange to the EbixCash portfolio further strengthens Ebix’s leadership in India’s Financial Exchange markets:
  
  • EbixCash is the largest domestic remittance exchange in India with domestic remittance volume of approximately $100 million per month.
  • The EbixCash World Money Exchange also has a 15% market share in India’s fast growing $1.5 billion education outward remittance business.
  • EbixCash is a leading provider of Gift cards, with over 100 co-partner brands across all major categories.
  • EbixCash is already recognized as a leader in the Gift card space with brand gift cards across all categories with 100+ Brand copartners.
  • EbixCash is a leading payment exchange enabling consumer payments for large utility providers.
  • Ebix’s recent joint venture initiative with Bombay Stock Exchange positions it as a gateway for insurance carriers to sell insurance to India’s vast population combining EbixCash’s 320,000 phygital outlets across the country with BSE’s strong national network.

Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina said, “Weizmann has one of the largest financial exchange footprints in India, especially with a large number of banks servicing their transactions through their network. We are excited to bring this vast network into the EbixCash Financial exchange network. The synergies between Weizmann and EbixCash were compelling making this a natural decision for us.”

Weizmann Forex Managing Director, B. Karthikeyan said, “Weizmann Forex has seen sustained growth in 2018 across its business verticals and has risen to ET’s top 200 companies’ list. However, every business must continue to evolve to be relevant and we are proud to associate with Ebix and leverage our synergies to help the business continue to grow and innovate. We look forward to a fruitful future with Ebix.”

About Ebix, Inc.

With 50+ offices across 5 continents, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) endeavors to provide On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries. In the Insurance sector, the Company’s main focus is to develop and deploy a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance exchanges on an on-demand basis, while also, providing Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") enterprise solutions in the area of CRM, front-end & back-end systems, outsourced administrative and risk compliance, across the world.