Guiding the sale of a complex insurance software business through financial distress

Protecting and growing value means understanding a company's operations down to the smallest unit. A successful turnaround requires deep sector knowledge and–as importantly–the trust of those at the company leading the effort. An over-leveraged company rests entirely on the work performed by those helping to restore it. It’s crucial to project confidence through precarity.

For a $1 billion global insurance software business that saw its valuation plummet and needed fast, decisive action, AlixPartners set up the company for a successful carve-out of its North American life and annuities business, while stabilizing the remaining core business to preserve lender value, erase debt loads, and ensure continuity across the suite of businesses. 

Here’s how we did it.

Getting acquainted with the business

Ebix is a global SaaS business that serves players in the insurance sector by providing end-to-end solutions, including infrastructure exchanges, carrier systems, agency systems, risk compliance solutions, and custom software development. With over 50 offices across five continents, the company is itself a complex entity.

When Ebix faced a rapidly worsening debt scenario, we were the first call to assess options and ultimately play an integral role in the M&A process via a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We were on the ground in India—dispatching specialists from our offices in the region—and in the U.S., reconstructing financials across the vast international business units, translating transfer costs and reconciling all the numbers from lakhs to Aussie dollars.

Our team bolstered the diminished staff, acting as the arms and legs to meet filing requirements, keep the business running, and create the carve-out financial results for investment bankers to use when marketing to potential buyers.

Doing it fast and doing it right

Our work with the company and fellow advisors on liability management and a sell-side process helped contribute to a plan for paying back lenders and maximizing value for the estate.

In late 2023, we assisted the company in filing for bankruptcy and took the lead as Chief Restructuring Officer, putting our M&A expertise in top gear.

Critically, we extended the runway by developing a targeted collections process, securing cash and buying time. We also stood up business processes to promote transparency, kept the company on target through the Chapter 11 program, and supported operations to keep the business running through the sales process.

Ultimately, our team helped execute a successful sale of 363 assets for the company’s largest operating business in North America in four months and supported the sale of the rest of the business in just under nine months. In that time, we reduced the debt load and hashed out transition service agreements (TSAs).

The work going on below-deck in a storm

The work by AlixPartners’ M&A, Turnaround & Restructuring, and Investigations teams at various stages of the engagement played an integral role in maximizing value for all stakeholders involved, and secured the company’s credibility, ensuring that the remaining businesses could be divested to the right buyers.

We led the pre-close separation planning, negotiated and drafted TSAs, supported post-close separation execution, and put together an employee retention plan to keep Ebix moving steadily forward, save jobs, and maximize recoveries for lenders and creditors.