Latin America’s newest fintech unicorn is Argentina-based Prisma Medios de Pago. TechCrunch reports that the payments company earned this status after Advent International’s acquisition of a 51 percent stake gave Prisma a $1.42 billion valuation.
TechCrunch heralds the deal as a sign of fintech’s maturity in the Latin America market, where e-commerce and financial services have been rapidly growing, citing other unicorn such as StoneCo Ltd. and NuBank, both based in Brazil.
Described as “the leading payments company in Argentina, and one of the largest in Latin America,” Prisma offers a range of financial services “including point-of-sale hardware rental, e-commerce gateways, transaction processing, payments processing and electronic bill pay,” according to the outlet.
"Prisma Medios de Pago is the leading player in a market poised for strong growth driven by the increasing penetration of electronic payments in Argentina."
"Prisma Medios de Pago is the leading player in a market poised for strong growth driven by the increasing penetration of electronic payments in Argentina," said Juan Pablo Zucchini, a Managing Partner at Advent International in Sao Paulo, in a press release. "We look forward to working with the management team and other shareholders to accelerate the company's development by investing in next-generation products and services and exploring international expansion opportunities."
Chris Egan, a Managing Partner at Advent International in Boston, added: "We have been following Prisma Medios de Pago closely for some time and have been impressed by its growth and strong market position across the entire payments value chain. We are excited to partner with the company's local bank owners to create value for all stakeholders."
"We are pleased to welcome a leading global investor such as Advent International as a new shareholder," emphasized Diego Maffeo, President and CEO of Prisma. "Advent brings deep sector expertise, a broad international network and significant financial resources to support our continued growth and leadership in payments, both in Argentina and beyond."
