TransUnion buys out banks in Mexican credit bureau arm in $560 million deal (updated)

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings

16/01/2025 14:38

(Updates with details from TransUnion, other banks, alters
media code)
       MEXICO CITY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - 
    U.S. credit reporting agency TransUnion  TRU.N  is buying a
majority stake in its Mexican arm, it said on Thursday, buying
out several major banks in a deal worth around $560 million.
  
        TransUnion's stake in Trans Union de Mexico will come up
to around 94%, from a current 26%, it said in a statement.
  
        TransUnion plans to tap into Mexico's rapidly expanding
consumer credit market with the purchase.
  
        The company partly controls the major Mexican credit
bureau, Buro de Credito. The bureau's commercial credit business
will however be excluded from the deal, TransUnion said.
  
        That arm of the Buro de Credito is jointly run with Dun
& Bradstreet  DNB.N .
  
        Carlos Valencia, TransUnion's Latin America chief, added
that they planned to introduce alternative credit data, fraud
mitigation options and expand into insurance and financial
technology.
  
        "We look forward to supporting the country's digital
transformation objectives to empower consumers with increased
economic opportunity," TransUnion CEO Chris Cartwright said in a
statement. 
  
        Mexican lender Banorte  GFNORTEO.MX , as well as the
local arms of HSBC  HSBA.L , Scotiabank  BNS.TO  and Santander
 SAN.MC  separately announced the sale of their respective
stakes in TransUnion's Mexico unit.   
  
        TransUnion said it had pegged around 11.5 billion pesos 
($560 million) for the deal, based on an enterprise value of
16.8 billion pesos. It said it expects to close the deal by the
end of this year and fund it through cash and debt.
  
        The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals.
  

($1 = 20.6160 Mexican pesos)

 (Reporting by Natalia Siniawski and Sarah Morland; Editing by
David Goodman and Kylie Madry)
 ((natalia.siniawski@thomsonreuters.com;))