Armed with Ebix life/annuity assets, Zinnia expands its market presence

With private equity backing and fresh life and annuity assets, Zinnia is making its move in the market.

Zinnia became the court-appointed buyer last week of the North American life and annuity assets of Ebix, Inc. for $400 million. A leading international supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services to insurance and financial services, Ebix filed for Chapter 11 protection of its U.S.-based operations.

The assets will further position Zinnia as "a partner of choice in the life and annuity industry – expanding offerings with insurance focused CRM and agency management, market-leading research, quoting, illustration and order entry tools, as well as a comprehensive underwriting platform, which will simplify experiences for advisors and their clients," the company said in a news release.

"The life and annuity insurance market is in growth mode, and our acquisition of the Ebix L&A assets will accelerate Zinnia's mission to simplify insurance for carriers, advisors, and consumers," said CEO Michele Trogni.

For example, AnnuityNet is the leading exchange in the industry supporting more than 140 distributors, 62 carriers and 8 out of the top 10 banks in selling annuities, she noted.

"Coupled with our acquisition of Policygenius in 2023, our goal is to create the modern rails of the L&A insurance industry, supporting this growth market," Trogni said.

An Eldridge Industries company with investment backing from KKR, Zinnia is a leading life insurance and annuity technology and service company based in Topeka, Kansas. The life and annuity assets being sold accounted for 14.5% of Ebix's worldwide GAAP revenues for the first three quarters of 2023, Ebix has said.

Ebix's life and annuity assets include AnnuityNet and LifeSpeed, an order entry platform; WinFlex, a market-leading multi-carrier illustration tool used by over 35 carriers and more than 275,000 users; TPP (The Policy Processor), an underwriting platform; and SmartOffice, an insurance vertical driven CRM tool used by more than 35,000 agencies and advisors.

Upon closing, Zinnia will expand its offerings with the addition of SmartOffice, Vital Sales Suite, Winflex, AnnuityNet, LifeSpeed, TPP (The Policy Processor), as well as products and services provided by the consulting organization, the release said.

'Great outcome'

Ash Sawhney, president of Ebix Insurance Solutions North America, will join Zinnia to head up the newly formed Life and Annuity Exchange Solutions business, reporting to Trogni. Joining him will be members of the Ebix Life and Annuity senior leadership team and all life and annuity employees globally.

“This is a great outcome for our business,” Sawhney said. “Zinnia’s commitment to invest in our products, people, and customer solutions will significantly advance our product roadmaps, which will only serve to benefit the entire industry. Zinnia has a clear vision for the future, and together, we will digitize the end-to-end processing of life and annuity products.”

Global operations across the Ebix L&A Assets will continue as usual for customers and partners through the closing and integration process.

Zinnia received court approval on Fob. 15 to acquire Ebix L&A Assets after being named the winning bidder. The transaction is expected to close in early March, subject to standard closing conditions.

Clarification: A prior version of this story indicated that a deal had been completed The deal is not official until closing conditions are met.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.