Wheelings & Dealings: Sapiens to Acquire IBEXI Solutions

By Peter Bernstein
Senior Editor

While insurance sometimes feels like a local or national business to customers, in reality it is very global.  This is particularly true when it comes to those who provide technology solutions to carriers large and small around the world.  An illustration of this comes in the form of new that Holon, Israel-based insurance software solutions provider Sapiens International Corporation, which has announced the signing of a definitive agreement, subject to closing conditions, to acquire IBEXI Solutions Private Limited (IBEXI), an India-based provider of insurance business and technology solutions.  Closing of the acquisition is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2015. 

With revenues for FY 2014 of approximately $4.3 million, IBEXI has 180 insurance and technology professionals.  Its practice is concentrated in Asia Pacific where it services 18 insurers in both the property and casualty (P&C) and life, pension and annuities (L&P) markets.  The company offers IT business consulting services to insurance companies on core insurance and supporting systems. In addition to its own insurance products – business intelligence (BI) and insurance portal offerings – IBEXI also provides implementation services. 

This sale makes sense, as IBEXI has been selling the Sapiens IDIT Software Suite for seven years and providing support for its existing customer base in AsiaPac.  Following the acquisition, IBEXI will manage the Sapiens Asia Pacific domain as a Sapiens regional center.

For its part, Sapiens International software solutions are being used for core, end-to-end capabilities to the global general insurance, property and casualty, life, pension and annuities, reinsurance and retirement markets. The company also has a nice business decision management business and is increasingly focusing on the financial services industry in general with more than 130 financial services organizations as current customers.  Sapiens has over 1,000 professionals who operate through fully-owned subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom, EMEA and Asia Pacific where IBEXI will enable it to expand its footprint along with the solutions offered.

“I am proud of IBEXI’s accomplishment as a provider of solutions and IT services to the Asia Pacific insurance industry,” said Ashok Bhavnani, IBEXI’s CEO. “I am confident that IBEXI’s domain expertise, our business intelligence and insurance portal offerings, and proven delivery capabilities will bring great value to Sapiens and its clients.” 

“I look forward to being part of the Sapiens team and sharing my nearly 25 years of experience. With the backing of Sapiens’ resources – its comprehensive product portfolio, insurance and financial services experts, and its strong financial position – we will continue to expand Sapiens business in Asia Pacific with existing and new customers.”   

“I believe that this acquisition will allow us to better serve the Asia Pacific insurance market,” said Roni Al-Dor, president and CEO of Sapiens. “It will expand our product portfolio with complementary solutions and will enable us to better achieve our targets of operational margin expansion.” 

As many reports and executive speeches the past several months have pointed out, the insurance industry globally has been a laggard in adopting new technology.  In fact, many are saying that failure to invest in news solutions that automate claims processes and enhance the customer experience front end to back office could be a ticket to financial problems for legacy insurers.  It is for precisely this reason that the solutions providers are busy beefing up via the M&A route as this deal highlights.