Ebix To Buy Yatra Online For $239 Million In Its Biggest Bet On Travel
The Yatra acquisition is part of Ebix’s plan to strengthen its hotel and flight booking business in India.
Ebix Inc. said it will buy online ticketing platform portal Yatra Online Inc. for $239 million in its biggest acquisition deal yet as it looks to strengthen its hotel and flight booking business.
According to the Ebix-Yatra deal, each Yatra ordinary share convertible into Ebix common stock would be valued, on an as-converted basis, at $4.90 per share, representing about 32 percent premium to Yatra’s closing share price on March 8.
Ebix had offered to acquire Yatra in March at a price of $7 per share, a premium of roughly 84 percent to Yatra’s close at that time. The final price was adjusted due debt and working capital, Ebix said.
“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,” Ebix Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robin Raina said.
Ebix said it will be issuing 2,43,747 convertible preferred stock, which in turn will be convertible into 48,74,931 shares of Ebix common stock.
The company said that the transaction has been approved unanimously by each of Ebix’s and Yatra’s boards of directors, and is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2019.
Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO of Yatra Online, will continue to lead the operations for Yatra, Raina told BloombergQuint over the phone.
Shringi said the deal will provide more options and an enhanced experience for joint customers and enable Yatra to be a stronger partner to the airline, hotel, car rental and other businesses.
Ebix has invested close to $700 million in the country through EbixCash since 2017 to make a dozen acquisitions—three of them luxury travel operators, Mercury Travels, Delhi-based Leisure Corp, and Via.com.