MCI Senior Finance Exective Elected Chairman of the Ebix Audit Committee

ATLANTA --(Business Wire)-- June 9, 2004 -- Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international developer and supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry, today announced that Pavan Bhalla, senior vice president - MCI Inc., has been elected Chairman of the Ebix Audit committee. This news follows the MCI executive joining Ebix as a Board member last week.

With a Masters in Business Administration - Analytic Finance from the University of Chicago, a Masters in Business Administration - MIS from Simon Fraser University, Canada, and as a Certified Public Accountant from Illinois, Bhalla spent the last 22 years in a variety of senior finance executive positions. As senior vice president in MCI, he presently oversees financial management of MCI's Enterprise Markets operating unit.

Before joining MCI in August of 2003, Mr. Bhalla spent over seven years with BellSouth Corporation, serving in a variety of executive positions, including chief financial officer of BellSouth Long Distance Inc. from 1999 to 2003, Corporate Controller of BellSouth Cellular Corp. from 1997 to 1999, and Director Finance of BellSouth Cellular Corp. from 1996 to 1997.

Bhalla also brings a strong background of hands-on accounting and auditing functions, having served as an Auditor for A F Ferguson & Co., Ernst & Young, Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Ameritech between 1982 and 1996.

"Over the past three years, Ebix has successfully engineered a complete turnaround and today is poised to build on its success and grow through a mix of accretive acquisitions and internal growth. I am excited to join the Board and help the management team implement its vision while adhering to the increasing requirements of being a public company today - in terms of financial disclosure and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance."

"I am excited to have the expertise and counsel of an experienced, successful senior finance professional like Pavan in a leadership role on the audit committee," said Robin Raina, Chairman, President & CEO, Ebix. "Pavan has led many multi-billion dollar companies through financial restructuring, controls and more recently SOX compliance. His expertise in these areas is bound to provide immense help to our Finance team."

About Ebix

Founded in 1976, Ebix, Inc. is one of the leading international suppliers of software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry. The Company strives to work collaboratively with clients to develop innovative technology strategies and solutions that address specific business challenges.

Ebix combines the newest technologies with its capabilities in consulting, systems design and integration, IT and business process outsourcing, applications software, and Web and application hosting to meet the individual needs of organizations. The Company is in the process of seeking SEI CMM Level 4 certification for its development units in India and has already secured an ISO 9001:2000 certification for both its development and call center units in India.

Ebix provides a series of application software products for the insurance industry ranging from carrier systems, agency systems, exchanges to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance and financial industries. The Company, with bases in Singapore, Australia, the US, New Zealand, India and Canada, employs insurance and technology professionals who provide products, support and consultancy to more than 3,000 customers on six continents. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at www.ebix.com.

SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on Ebix management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Ebix has tried to identify such forward looking statements by use of such words as "will," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes" and similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Such statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include the extent to which the Ebix.com website and other new products and services can be successfully developed and marketed, the risks associated with any future acquisitions, the willingness of independent insurance agencies to outsource their computer and other processing needs to third parties, possible governmental regulation and/or other adverse consequences resulting from negative perception of the outsourcing of business processes to foreign countries, Ebix's ability to continue to develop new products to effectively address market needs in an industry characterized by rapid technological change, Ebix's dependence on a few customers, Ebix's dependence on the insurance industry, the highly competitive and rapidly changing automation systems market, Ebix's ability to effectively protect its applications software and other proprietary information, Ebix's ability to attract and retain quality management, and software, technical sales and other personnel, the risks of disruption of Ebix's Internet connections or internal service problems, the possible adverse effects of a substantial increase in volume of traffic on Ebix's website, mainframe and other servers, possible security breaches on the ebix website, the possible effects of insurance regulation on ebix, the possible effects of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation of Ebix's financial reporting, and possible future terrorist attacks or acts of war. Certain of these, as well as other risks, uncertainties and other factors, are described in more detail in Ebix's periodic filings with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including Ebix's annual report on Form 10-K for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, Ebix undertakes no obligation to update any such factors or any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect changed circumstances or future events or developments or for any other reason.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]

Discussions: