The Indian subsidiary of Ebix Group has reportedly acquired two travel companies namely Mercury Travels and Leisure Corporation. According to the reports, the deal is worth $14.2 million.
The acquisition has been made with an aim to create a separate division to focus on the niche travel market in India. Mercury Travels is a Mumbai-based company whereas Leisure Corporation is Delhi-based.
“We are excited to be able to bring these two leading companies together, with the goal of creating a pioneering luxury travel initiative. Between this Mercury initiative and our existing Via.com travel initiative, EbixCash is now uniquely positioned as a financial exchange that has end-to-end travel solutions for all sections of the society,” said Robin Raina, Ebix CEO.
A new travel division is being planned to be added under the name ‘Mercury – An EbixCash Luxury initiative’. This division will be mainly focusing on the luxury, events and sports-related traveller and will be managed by Naveen Kundu, the founder of Leisure. The founder will own 15% shareholding in this new initiative, on the other hand, Ebix will have 85% shareholding in the firm as stated by the company.
The company expects to unite the acquisitions into its financial exchange, EbixCash. And after the acquisition process, it will have two brands in travel space – Via.com and Mercury. According to the reports, Via.com continues to grow at a CAGR of 45% in the last three years.
With these acquisitions, Ebix India will expand its employee base from 400 to nearly 7,600 employees. The company anticipated the new Mercury division to grow at 20% rate on an annual basis.
The travel space these days is growing at a great pace and thus, the funding and acquisitions in this sector are also taking a rise. According to the reports, India’s travel market is anticipated to be worth $48 billion within the next three years.