Boa Vista Acquisition: Key Details, Impact, and What Comes Next

Equifax has successfully acquired Boa Vista Serviços, Brazil's second-largest credit bureau. This strategic move significantly enhances Equifax's presence in the Brazilian market, providing Boa Vista Serviços customers with access to Equifax's global capabilities and cloud-native solutions. The acquisition is expected to drive innovation in consumer and commercial credit, promoting greater financial inclusion in Brazil.

What Is Boa Vista?

Founded in 1899, Boa Vista offers a range of services including credit analysis for individuals and businesses, debt collection, and fraud prevention. The company stands out with its global presence, extensive experience, and advanced technology. Boa Vista provides tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes, leveraging a large database of over 282 million CPFs and CNPJs. Their offerings include postpaid plans with progressive discounts and no fidelity requirement, ensuring flexibility and reliability in credit consultations.

Who Acquired Boa Vista?

Equifax is a global leader in data, analytics, and technology, playing a crucial role in credit reporting and financial data analysis. The company offers key products and services such as credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and comprehensive business solutions for credit risk management and fraud prevention. Equifax's extensive market influence is underscored by its trusted reputation and global presence, providing critical insights that help both consumers and businesses make informed decisions.

When Was Boa Vista Acquired?

Equifax completed its acquisition of Boa Vista Serviços on August 7, 2023. This acquisition is part of Equifax's broader strategy to expand its international footprint, particularly in the fast-growing Brazilian market. The timing aligns with Equifax's ongoing transformation to cloud-based solutions and follows a period of aggressive expansion, with 14 acquisitions since 2021. This move is expected to drive innovation and growth, leveraging Equifax's global capabilities to better serve the Brazilian market.

Why Was Boa Vista Acquired?

• Market Expansion: The acquisition of Boa Vista Serviços significantly enhances Equifax's presence in Brazil, a market valued at $2 billion. This strategic move allows Equifax to tap into a large and fast-growing market, providing Boa Vista Serviços customers with access to Equifax's expansive international capabilities and cloud-native solutions.
• Technology Integration: Integrating Boa Vista Serviços into the Equifax Cloud will enable the development of new cloud-based solutions. Equifax's cloud-native data, products, decisioning, and analytical technology will be leveraged to accelerate Boa Vista Serviços's digital transformation, allowing for rapid development of new products and services tailored to the Brazilian market.
• Competitive Advantage: The acquisition strengthens Equifax's competitive position by providing Boa Vista Serviços with access to Equifax's unique data assets, leading decisioning and analytical solutions, and Identity and Fraud solutions. This integration is expected to drive innovative solutions, enhance decision-making with more data, and promote greater financial inclusion for unbanked or underbanked consumers in Brazil.

Acquisition Terms

• Acquisition Price: Equifax acquired Boa Vista Serviços for R$8.00 per share, implying an estimated total enterprise value of R$3.1 billion, or approximately USD$640 million based on a USD/BRL exchange rate of 4.8080.
• Payment Method: Equifax offered Boa Vista Serviços shareholders the option to receive:
  • R$8.00 per share in cash
  • R$7.20 in cash and 0.0008 of an EFX Brazilian Depository Receipt (BDR)
  • R$5.33 of Equifax do Brasil S.A. common shares and R$2.67 in either cash or 0.0027 of Equifax BDRs
• Key Conditions or Agreements:
  • The transaction is subject to Boa Vista Serviços's shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions.
  • Associação Comercial de São Paulo (ACSP), the largest shareholder of Boa Vista Serviços, has executed a voting agreement in support of the transaction.
  • ACSP has also entered into a 15-year agreement with Boa Vista Serviços to maintain its commercial relationship, refrain from competing, and provide consulting and regulatory support services.
  • The acquisition is not anticipated to have a material impact on Equifax's 2023 financial results.

Impact on Boa Vista

The acquisition of Boa Vista Serviços by Equifax has led to significant changes in operations and management. Boa Vista Serviços is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equifax do Brasil, with Márcio Fabbris continuing as CEO. Former Equifax CEO Paulino Barros has joined the Equifax Brasil board of directors, ensuring a seamless integration of leadership. This strategic move aims to leverage Equifax's global capabilities and cloud-native solutions, accelerating Boa Vista Serviços's digital transformation and expanding its product and service offerings to better meet the needs of the Brazilian market.

Customer reactions have been largely positive, with many looking forward to the enhanced services and innovative solutions that the merger promises. Boa Vista Serviços customers now have access to Equifax's extensive data assets and advanced analytical technology, which are expected to bring new insights and promote greater financial inclusion, particularly for the unbanked or underbanked population. Employees are also optimistic, as the merger marks an exciting new chapter with opportunities for growth and development within a global team. For founders considering business transitions, tools like Sunset can assist in managing such processes compliantly and efficiently.