Atlanta, GA based Ebix Inc., will acquire a 60% stake for $8 million in New Delhi-based e-learning company Smartclass Educational Services Private Limited. This is Ebix’s ninth acquisition in India in a little over two years.
Smartclass will be integrated into Ebix’s education and e-learning initiatives in India. The company’s chairman and chief executive Robin Raina said, “The e-learning business model is typically asset light and caters well to strong recurring operating margins, once the customer aggregation crosses the threshold levels. We have been eyeing India’s fast-growing e-learning sector for many years now, fueled by education being one of the highest spending areas traditionally for an Indian median household.” Ebix will invest up to $100 million in the education sector, Raina added.
Online education in India will grow approximately eight times in the next five years, says a recent report by Google. Currently pegged at $247 million, the educational technology market has the potential of reaching $1.96 billion by 2021.
