Payments and software company Ebix Inc. is seeking to raise cash to pay back some $600 million in debt due early next year, but time is running short as it awaits regulatory approval for a public offering in India while facing allegations of improper accounting from short sellers, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Nasdaq-listed Ebix, based in Johns Creek, Ga., today does the majority of its business in India. Once an enterprise software company for the insurance industry, it rapidly transformed into an international payments and software business through a series of debt-funded acquisitions in India under longtime Chief Executive Robin Raina. But the company’s rapid growth abroad is threatening to come to an abrupt stop, as a cooling market for Indian startups and allegations of accounting impropriety from short sellers are putting obstacles in front of the company’s ability to raise cash and repay the debt due next year. In a statement, Ebix denied any wrongdoing in its accounting and said the company has multiple avenues to refinance its debts coming due next year. The company hasn’t been charged with any form of wrongdoing by authorities. As of June 30, the company reported only $68 million of cash on hand. Despite its multiple acquisitions, Ebix said it has struggled to generate cash since the pandemic started due to a drop-off in travel-related revenue and it intends to use around $350 million in proceeds from a listing in India of EbixCash, one of its major payments subsidiaries, to help pay back its debts.
