M&A Newsletter — August 2020

Adquira México, the B2B e-commerce platform created by Telefónica B2B (now a subsidiary of Telefónica Móviles México), was acquired by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria - BBVA.

Minera Álamos acquired from various investors the gold mining project known as Cerro de Oro, located in the state of Zacatecas.

U.S.-based Steel Dynamics (NAS: STDL) acquired, for an undisclosed amount, Zimmer Recycling, a company providing recycling services in Monterrey. Zimmer offers equipment sales, collection and purchase of ferrous scrap, as well as recycling and sale of raw materials. Through this acquisition, STDL will achieve improved supply for its smelting facility in Texas.

Brigadier Gold acquired from various investors the gold and silver mining project known as Los Picachos Gold-Silver Property, located in the municipality of El Rosario, in Sinaloa. The project comprises four mining concessions and covers 3,954 hectares.

Mexico's Gentera (BMV: GENTERA) acquired 51% of the shares of ConCrédito for $506.5 million pesos. ConCrédito is a Mexican FinTech company that offers technology-based financial applications and solutions to businesses in Mexico.

The product division in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Miami of U.S.-based Scan Source (NASDAQ: SCSC) was acquired by Mexico's Intcomex for an undisclosed amount.

Mexico's FinTech Creze, a provider of business working-capital loans in Mexico, closed a financing round of $265.0 million pesos with an undisclosed group of investors.

Mexico's BeepQuest, a developer of software and applications for field supervision and auditing, joined the business incubator and accelerator Newchip.

Mexico's Parquimovil, a company that has developed an application providing motorists with real-time information on available parking spaces, received a financing round from Proeza Ventures for an undisclosed amount.

Mexico's FinTech Fondeadora raised a capital round of USD $14.0 million led by Gradient Ventures. IGNIA, Sound Ventures, FinTech Collective and Y Combinator also participated in this round.

Mexico's Luxelare, operator of a platform designed for the planning, management and diagnosis of farmers' plots, raised a financing round of $7.5 million pesos through the crowdfunding platform Propeler.

Norway's Tempnet, a telecommunications-services operator, through two sponsors — 3i Infrastructure and The ATP Group, acquired via an LBO for an undisclosed amount British Petroleum's fiber-optic system in the Gulf of Mexico. The system comprises more than 1,200 km of fiber-optic cabling.

Despite the foregoing, M&A activity in Mexico continues to show early signs of recovery, albeit in an incipient manner. A number of relevant transactions are being observed while new mandate letters are beginning to take shape. On the other hand, the recent issuance of a CERPIS (Certificados Bursátiles Fiduciarios de Proyectos de Inversión) for USD$150 million by Arago Gestión, and the issuance of a CKDe (Certificado de Capital de Desarrollo) for $1,875 pesos by Bocel Private Equity, demonstrate that long-term confidence in Mexico remains intact. We trust that issuances of these investment-promoting instruments will continue.

Despite the foregoing, M&A activity in Mexico continues to show early signs of recovery, albeit in an incipient manner. A number of relevant transactions are being observed while new mandate letters are beginning to take shape. On the other hand, the recent issuance of a CERPIS (Certificados Bursátiles Fiduciarios de Proyectos de Inversión) for USD$150 million by Arago Gestión, and the issuance of a CKDe (Certificado de Capital de Desarrollo) for $1,875 pesos by Bocel Private Equity, demonstrate that long-term confidence in Mexico remains intact. We trust that issuances of these investment-promoting instruments will continue.

France's Givaudan, a perfumery, colorants and flavorings company, announced an investment of USD $53.4 million to expand its manufacturing plant in Queretaro and an additional investment of USD $160 million for new acquisitions.

Nestlé de México announced investments of USD $17 million in Mexico to modernize all of its plants in the country.

Cement maker Holcim announced an investment of USD $40 million for a new plant in the state of Yucatán.

Ainda Energía e Infraestructura (49%) and Aldesa (51%) were awarded the concession to expand the Tuxtla Gutiérrez – San Cristóbal highway to three lanes. The estimated investment will be $950 million pesos.

Germany's Emma Sleep will invest USD $2 million to manufacture mattresses in Mexico, thereby ceasing imports from Germany and generating employment in Mexico.

Late last week, Someone Somewhere launched its online store, having raised USD $1.7 million to offer Mexican artisan products for sale in the United States of America.

BOCEL Private Equity placed the first issuance of a CKDe in the amount of $375 million pesos on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores to invest in growth-stage companies in Mexico. The total amount of the CKDe is $1,875 million pesos, resources with which Bocel will make between 5 and 8 investments of between $200 and $600 million pesos each. We warmly congratulate our friends René Fernández and Roberto Terrazas, and the entire BOCEL team. Congratulations!