EbixCash, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Ebix, Inc. that provides on-demand software and e-commerce services to several sectors, has acquired a 70% stake in business process outsourcing (BPO) company AssureEdge Global Services Pvt Ltd.
AssureEdge, set up in 1989, is a customer retention and response organisation that offers BPO services through six contact centres across the country. As part of this acquisition, the company will rebrand to EbixCash Global BPO Services.
In a statement, Ebix president and chief executive officer (CEO) Robin Raina said the acquisition will help the company handle fulfilment, collections, and last-mile delivery for EbixCash. The company did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.
AssureEdge founder and CEO Bhupesh Tambe will continue to lead the company with a 30% stake. His immediate responsibilities will include integrating AssureEdge into EbixCash.
“We see AssureEdge serving our pre-sales and post-sales support for the BSE Ebix insurance platform, besides helping us provide an end-to-end fulfilment solution to banks on our lending, wealth management, asset management and credit card processing solutions for banks and financial institutions,” Raina said.
Run in India by Ebix Payment Services Pvt Ltd, Mumbai-based EbixCash says it operates on a ‘phygital’ strategy that combines physical distribution outlets in Southeast Asian nations to omni-channel online digital platforms.
Its financial services portfolio includes domestic and international money remittances, foreign exchange, travel, pre-paid cards, and gift cards. It also operates lending solutions, recharges, and bill payments.
EbixCash had acquired Mumbai-based Mercury Travels and Delhi-based Leisure Corp. last year with an aim to create a travel division focused on luxury, events and sports-related travellers.
In July 2019, EbixCash’s parent Ebix Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nasdaq-listed Yatra Online Inc. in a deal aimed to boost its portfolio of Indian travel ventures. However, the deal was scrapped by Yatra in June this year over alleged breaches of the merger agreement.
Ebix responded by threatening to file a countersuit against the travel portal. “Ebix strongly disagrees with the allegations set forth in the (Yatra) complaint. Ebix intends to enforce all of its rights under the merger agreement, and is currently considering all options,” it had said at the time.