Ebixcash to acquire Essel Forex, Weizmann Forex for $57.35m

Ebixcash Monday said it will acquire Essel Forex and Weizmann Forex for USD 57.35 million to cement its position in the financial services distribution.

Ebixcash World Money has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling 74.84 per cent stake in India-based Weizmann Forex at an enterprise valuation of USD 65.94 million, an official statement said.

Weizmann Forex is the second largest inward remittance provider besides being one of the four largest foreign exchange and outward remittance providers in India, it said.

Ebixcash, a part of the Nasdaq-listed Ebix Inc, has also entered into an agreement to acquire 100 per cent assets of India-based Essel Forex for approximately USD 8 million, the statement said.

The Essel acquisition will be funded using internal accruals and bank credit lines, it said.

With the two acquisitions, Ebixcash stands as the largest distribution house in terms of network in financial services space covering more than 3,700 cities and more than 6,000 districts, the statement claimed.

It will also be the largest retail brand in terms of airport presence and will cover 95 per cent of airports in India in terms of retail presence, iy said.

The combined entity will have more than 80 percent share in the cash to cash inward money transfer business in India, will hold more than 50 per cent share in the student outward remittance and forex category, it said.