(OFFICIAL) UPDATE 1 Advent-backed fintech Ebanx acquired Remessa Online for $229 mln

EBANX, a South and Central American payment processor, displays on the exhibit hall floor during the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

SAO PAULO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Brazilian fintech Ebanx, which is backed by U.S. private equity firm Advent International, has acquired international money transfer firm Remessa Online for $229 million, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Ebanx’s co-founder Joao Del Valle said in the statement that Remessa Online’s remittance services will complement its payments business, mostly focused on processing payments from clients of global websites, and accelerate growth.

Besides Brazil, Ebanx operates in other countries in Latin America, such as Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. It processes payments for more than 35,000 companies.

“We will expand our combined portfolio of solutions to our merchants, especially focused on our B2B and B2C currency-exchange services, while enabling Latin Americans to access dream brands from around the world,” said Ebanx co-founder and Chief Risk Officer Wagner Ruiz.

Earlier, in a press release in Portuguese, Ebanx announced the deal value of 1.2 billion reais, which uses a convertion rate of earlier this year.

Remessa Online has served 350,000 companies and individuals, totalling $5.2 billion in remittances since it was founded in 2016.

Ebanx’s move to acquire Remessa Online comes less than six months after Advent paid $430 million for a minority stake in the company. At this time, Del Valle said Ebanx was planning an IPO by the beginning of 2022.

(The story officially corrects deal value in dollars to $229 mln, not $212 mln)

Reporting by Carolina Mandl, Editing by Louise Heavens

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