SUCCESS STORY: MAXITRANSFERS
Maxitransfers:
In 2020, Serficor worked together with Capstone Headwaters (both IMAP member firms) to successfully advise Investar Financial in the divestment of Maxitransfers (“Maxi”), a leading remittance-transfer company serving the Latino community in the United States with a network of more than 1,000 agents.
The remittance sector in Mexico has proven to be highly attractive for strategic investors, as evidenced by the acquisition of Maxitransfers by a U.S. private equity fund. This transaction, which initially included family offices as investors, underscores the growing interest of U.S. strategic investors in money-transfer companies operating in the Mexican market.
The successful sale of Maxitransfers reflected the market’s confidence in the strength and growth potential of the remittance sector, positioning it as a highly valued investment opportunity by international private equity.
The financial structure of the remittance sector has shown notable resilience in the face of fiscal and regulatory pressures, as sector companies have managed to effectively pass additional tax and fee costs on to consumers without experiencing a significant decrease in demand for their services. This ability to pass through operating costs reflects the essential nature of remittance services for families that depend on international money transfers, making this sector a stable and predictable business model for investors. The limited elasticity of demand in the remittance market confirms its attractiveness as an investment sector, especially for funds seeking consistent cash flows and defensive business models in the face of economic change.
The Challenge:
Despite Maxi’s sustained growth in its industry, the remittance sector faced increasingly strict regulations in the United States, significantly limiting the pool of buyers willing to assume the operational risks inherent to the business, including, but not limited to, economic pressures deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the tariffs imposed on remittances by President Donald Trump.
The Result:
Leveraging IMAP’s binational network of contacts in Mexico and the United States, we generated a competitive process with multiple strategic and financial investors. After months of negotiations and meetings, Housatonic Partners acquired Maxi’s majority stake, closing the transaction at a highly attractive multiple for Investar, despite an adverse regulatory environment.