Ebix Pays $337.8M For Merger Deal With India Travel Firm Yatra

India’s largest business travel service provider, Yatra Online, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Atlanta-based software firm Ebix.

Ebix said the deal has an enterprise value of $337.8 and the acquisition is part of its plan to gain a larger foothold in India’s hotel and flight ticketing market, according to a July 17 press release. Ebix has invested over $650 million in businesses in India.

Yatra will become part of the EbixCash travel portfolio, Ebix’s Indian subsidiary, but will still serve customers under the Yatra brand.

“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,” said Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina.

Once the plan is fully executed, Raina said it can provide 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,” he said.

The transaction has been approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both Ebix and Yatra, and is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2019.

“Over the last several years, we have built Yatra into one of India’s most well-recognized eCommerce brands, growing into the leading corporate travel services provider and one of the largest consumer travel companies,” said Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO of Yatra Online. “Becoming a part of Ebix’s EbixCash travel portfolio will enable us to continue on that path.”

Travel is a fast-growing category in India’s internet economy and the Yatra acquisition, initially announced March 11, is just the most recent acquisition by Ebix. The company acquired Mercury Travels and Leisure Corp, both based in India, in an expansion move last year.

Also last year, Yatra struck a partnership with travel expense (T&E) management company Chrome River to provide business customers outside of India with Chrome River services when they travel for business within India.