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ItzCash Parent Ebix Buys Third Money Transfer Service Business In A Month

ItzCash parent Ebix makes third acquisition to expand distribution reach in India.



Posters depicting a U.S. one hundred dollars banknote, bottom, and a 500-euro banknote are displayed on a wall near a currency exchange in Mumbai. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Posters depicting a U.S. one hundred dollars banknote, bottom, and a 500-euro banknote are displayed on a wall near a currency exchange in Mumbai. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Software services firm Ebix Inc. has acquired its third money transfer service asset in a month as it looks to expand the distribution reach of ItzCash financial exchange by adding more outlets.

Ebix will acquire the money transfer service scheme business of Paul Merchants Ltd. for $40.7 million, it said in a media statement. As part of the transaction, Paul Merchants will take a 10 percent stake in Ebix’s combined international remittance business in India for an undisclosed cash consideration, the statement added.

The U.S.-based company had taken over payments company ItzCash in May 2017 and has been following it up with remittance related acquisitions. These acquisitions allow Ebix’s financial exchange to remit money sent outside India through Western Union, Ria, Moneygram or Express Money. It had acquired the MTSS assets of YouFirst Money Express Private Ltd. and Wall Street Finance Ltd. in August. Ebix intends to bring all these acquisitions into its financial exchange operations.

The combination of Paul Merchant’s MTSS Business into our two other MTSS acquisitions will place us in a very strong position to implement our vision related to Financial Exchanges in India.
Robin Raina, Chairman, President and CEO, Ebix

The three acquisitions will increase ItzCash’s financial exchange distribution reach to over 1.14 lakh retail outlets in India from around 75,000 outlets earlier, the statement said. Paul Merchants is the largest international remittance player in India with almost one-third of Western Union’s inward flows in India, it added.

Ebix expects its new buy to be earnings accretive as soon as the deal is approved by shareholders of Paul Merchants.