Experian acquires controlling stake in Brazilian fintech

Credit reference agency Experian has agreed to acquire a 51% stake in Brazilian fintech group MOVA Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas as part of a BRL 40.0m (£6.45m) cash deal.

Experian, which said on Monday that it had purchased the stake from private investor Érico Sodre Quirino and founder and chief executive Roberto Tesch, highlighted that it also held a call option to acquire the remaining 49% of MOVA between 2026 and 2028, whilst the sellers had also put an option exercisable during 2029.

The FTSE 100-listed group said the "highly complementary" acquisition would be funded from its existing cash resources.

For the year ended 31 December 2021, MOVA generated negative earnings before interest and tax of BRL 11.7m (£1.87m), while gross assets were RRL 14.5m (£2.36m) at the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com