THE TIRELESS MAVERICK

ROBIN RAINA, the Chairman and CEO of Ebix Inc, who wears the dual hat of founder and promoter of EbixCash, firmly believes that India is ready for a greater presence on the global financial stage and EbixCash, his end-toend financial services provider, is ideally placed to tap this opportunity. With a slew of high-profile acquisitions, nurturing a discipline of growth and establishing strong governance practices, Raina’s speed of decision-making highlights the ambitious goal he has set for himself and his company. The building blocks that include a unified all-inclusive offer and the business model that intuitively houses recurring growth avenues, topped with his overall efforts, place him on the fast track to reaching this mark. Excerpts from an interaction with BW Businessworld’s Group Editorial Director, NOOR FATHIMA WARSIA:

- NOOR FATHIMA WARSIA

As you near the deadline for your proposed IPO, and especially in view of some of the developments in this space recently, there is more attention to profit. EbixCash’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last three years was 66 per cent and you are on target to clock more than $800 million in revenues and approximately $100 million in EBITDA in 2021. Strictly speaking, EbixCash is profitable. We understand you are planning the IPO proceeds would be in billions. How do you propose to utilise this money?

We are still in the midst of discussions on exactly what we are looking at but it could be one of India’s larger public issues. The key right now is to grow the EbixCash business internationally. I want to create a multinational corporation that is based in India. Today, MNCs come to India, launch their India operations and are placed among the leaders here. I want to launch a brand that can play across the world. I want to make the EbixCash brand a global name to reckon with.

It is my dream to take an Indian MNC to the global stage, and while there are such examples that exist today, they are still too few and far in between for the kind of scale and talent that India houses.