Ebix Shareholders Seek Bankruptcy Representation for Equity Value
A group of shareholders of bankrupt Ebix is seeking to appoint an official committee to represent its interests in the software and e-commerce services supplier’s chapter 11, saying that the company’s stock still has value, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The group owning 18% of Ebix stock made a request on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, asking Judge Scott Everett to order the U.S. Trustee, the Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog, to appoint an official committee of equity holders. These equity holders said the stock market views Ebix as a solvent business and the stock is currently trading at roughly $2.40 a share, indicating a market capitalization of roughly $74 million. Also, “insiders and sophisticated investors are accumulating shares,” the equity group said. It pointed out, for example, that, days after the bankruptcy, Ebix director George Hebard bought 409,000 shares for roughly $1 apiece. The official unsecured creditors' committee in the Ebix bankruptcy, however, has said that the appointment of an equity committee shouldn’t be considered “at this time,” saying either the company itself or the creditor committee could protect shareholder interests.
