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The crisis has caused several deals in the travel sector to come undone, such as an American Express GBT deal, Wex's bid to buy Enett, and Sabre's bid to buy Farelogix. But ever since software firm Ebix offered to buy corporate travel firm Yatra in July 2019, the two companies have been squabbling. So this news isn't surprising.

India’s Yatra Online said on Friday it was terminating a pending merger agreement with U.S. software firm Ebix, and had filed a litigation seeking “substantial” damages for Ebix’s alleged breach of deal terms.

Ebix had agreed to buy Yatra in 2019 for an enterprise value of $337.8 million, aiming to beef up its portfolio of Indian travel companies, including Mumbai-based Mercury Travels and Delhi-based Leisure Corp.

Indian travel services company Yatra said it is seeking damages against Ebix for breaching terms of their merger agreement, including clauses on representations and covenants.

Ebix did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Separately, Yatra said it has implemented certain cost-saving measures starting April, including cutting management salaries by half and freezing salary hikes to weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business.

Shares of Yatra were about 8 percent lower in extended trading.

Earlier: Ebix to Acquire India’s Corporate Travel Player Yatra for $338 Million

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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Tags: coronavirus, coronavirus recovery, corporate travel, ebix, india, mergers and acquisitions, transaction, yatra

Photo credit: Dhruv Shringi, the co-founder of Yatra, has been CEO of the travel company based in Gurgaon for about 14 years. Yatra

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