Covalto to Become 1st Mexican FinTech on US Stock Market

Mexican digital banking platform Covalto is planning to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger, a move that would make it the first Mexican FinTech to trade on the United States markets.

The company’s deal to list on the Nasdaq puts it at an implied $547 million pro-forma enterprise value, Reuters reported Thursday (Aug. 18). Covalto, formerly known as Credijusto, said the deal could generate as much as $177 million of capital before expenses.

The listing comes with $60 million in financing, half of which has already been announced, according to the report. The rest will come from LIV Capital, the parent of LIVB, which is the SPAC. Covalto could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Last year, Covalto — then still called Credijusto — bought Banco Finterra, a bank geared toward financial offerings for small companies and the agriculture industry.

Read more: Mexican FinTech Credijusto Buys Bank to Serve X-Border SMBs

The company said at the time that it was the first Mexican FinTech to purchase a regulated bank, transforming itself into Latin America’s only neobank focused on working with small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Co-CEO David Poritz said at the time that the acquisition would allow for a “digital cross-border experience” for the companies participating in trade between the U.S. and Mexico, “an opportunity that we see as a major driver of growth for Credijusto.”

Also in 2021, the company entered talks with another SPAC about merging the companies and listing them on the New York Stock Exchange.

See more: Mexican SMB FinTech Credijusto Could Be Listed On NYSE This Year

Credijusto, which was founded in 2015 was attractive to the company due to its prominence among Latin American SMBs.

The company had built out a “multi-product offering” that combines “cutting-edge software design, innovative applications of data science and advanced internal processes,” according to an announcement at the time.