Greensill Buys Omni, Eyeing More Latin America Work

Greensill, which provides working capital finance for customers around the world, has acquired Latin America-based lender Omni, a lender to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

The acquisition, announced in a Tuesday (June 16) press release, will position Greensill closer to its global growth targets by expanding B2B functions to the Latin American region.

Latin American finances, the press release notes, account for around $750 billion of the vast global $56.3 trillion market for working capital finance. The SMBs based there count for around 20 percent of the global unbanked small business market, something both companies say they’re poised to begin addressing.

Omni, founded in 2018 by FinTech entrepreneurs Diego Caicedo and Andrés Abumohor, has worked to provide working capital solutions for over 5,000 clients, totaling $300 million in financial solutions, the release says.

Greensill, the release said, has provided $143 billion in financing to over 8 million customers in over 175 countries. Sales have gone up 73 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

Greensill Founder and CEO Lex Greensill said the acquisition would help boost his company’s initiatives in Omni’s native Latin American market.

“Latin America is a highly attractive growth market for us and the acquisition of Omni will significantly expand our capabilities in this important region,” he said in a statement. “Together we will ensure that SMEs across Latin America have the fairest access to finance available.”

Caicedo said he was also glad to be a part of Greensill due to the heightened capacity for growth.

“Both of our companies were founded with similar business philosophies and ambitions, and this transaction will allow Omni to accelerate our growth plans in the Latin American market, while also benefiting from Greensill’s expertise and global capabilities,” he said.

Greensill has also recently issued a directive for companies not to use its supply chain finance (SCF) to push out payment terms beyond 30 days, as some were allowing much longer payment terms.