Softbank Group-backed Greensill Capital, a London based provider of capital finance for businesses and people globally, will reportedly be acquiring Colombia’s Omni Latam in order to accelerate the growth and adoption of innovative financial tech solutions in Latin America.
The amount that will be paid for the acquisition has not been disclosed.
Greensill says it decided to acquire Omni so that it can expand into Latin American markets, which include Brazil and Mexico – two countries that are leading the charge when it comes to Fintech adoption in the region.
As mentioned in the announcement:
“Omni provides working capital to small and midsize businesses in Colombia and Chile, and Greensill offers supply-chain finance globally, making loans companies use to pay their suppliers.”
Lex Greensill, founder and CEO at Greensill, stated:
“We realized Latin America requires very special skills, [but] … has a very significant working-capital gap that we estimate to be on the order of $750 billion.”
He said this is why he established a company, a dedicated team, and acquired technology that would address these issues.
Established in 2018 in Bogota, Omni has reportedly provided around $300 million in digital working-capital products to SMBs that supply large firms based in Colombia and Chile. The company collects data including tax documents and invoices, in order to make better credit decisions, which are based on the prospective borrower’s customers, sales volume, and employees.
Diego Caicedo, CEO at Omni, remarked:
“We don’t ask for the company’s financial statements, which will only tell you about the past. We’re seeing the movie in real time here … small companies’ situations change very fast, and in a world [facing] a pandemic crisis like today, it changes even faster.”
In July 2018, Greensill received a $250 million investment from private equity firm General Atlantic. The company has also received investments from SoftBank’s Vision fund, which includes $800 million in May 2019, and $655 million in October 2019.
Established in 2011, Greensill reportedly provided $143 billion in financing to over 8 million customers and suppliers based in 175+ countries. Volume during the first four months of this year has increased over 2x from last year due to the pandemic, the company claims.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron serves as an adviser to the firm.
Greensill distributes part of the credit it generates to over 100 investors. Some of them receive financing via its Germany based lender, Greensill Bank AG.
