On 7 July 2026 Equifax signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Círculo de Crédito for USD 825 million, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The transaction comes four months after TransUnion completed the purchase of a majority of Buró de Crédito. In four months, Buró de Crédito and Círculo de Crédito moved from Mexican bank and retail shareholders to the control of global data operators.
The transaction
Sellers: Banca Afirme, Coppel, Grupo Elektra and a group of private investors. Price: USD 825 million for 100%; enterprise value of USD 750 million net of about USD 75 million of cash, with no debt. It is Equifax’s seventeenth bolt-on acquisition in six years. Approvals and conditions: not detailed in the announcement; closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Círculo de Crédito figures for the twelve months to 30 June 2026: revenue of USD 134 million (+31%) and adjusted EBITDA of USD 62 million; more than 1,700 customers; 2 billion credit lines in its database; 80 million identities validated. On the disclosed figures, enterprise value equals about 12 times adjusted EBITDA and 5.6 times revenue (our own calculation).
Precedent: in January 2025 TransUnion agreed to buy an additional 68% of Buró de Crédito from sellers including Banorte, Santander, BBVA, HSBC and Scotiabank, taking it to about 94%, for around MXN 11,400 million (USD 662 million) with adjustments, on an enterprise value of MXN 16,800 million; the transaction closed on 2 March 2026.
Value drivers
Growth in a regulated data asset. Revenue up 31% in twelve months at a credit bureau is the figure that explains the multiple. Equifax chief executive Mark Begor cited that more than 25% of the Mexican population lacks access to formal financial products and described Mexico as one of the fastest-growing credit markets globally.
Scarcity. A bureau with a database, customers and authorisation is not built; it is bought. With Buró de Crédito already under TransUnion’s control, Círculo was the available asset.
Strategic sellers with no operator ambition. Afirme, Coppel and Elektra are users of the bureau, not data operators. In our reading, the sale monetises a non-strategic stake at a multiple a financial seller would hardly have turned down.
Clean cash position. A USD 750 million enterprise value with no debt and USD 75 million of cash simplifies price and closing.
What the market is signalling
For lenders, FintechExpert warns that the consolidation of the bureaus into two global operators may raise barriers for SOFOMs and small fintechs, which depend on credit enquiries at accessible prices. For strategic buyers, the Equifax and TransUnion transactions set a reference price for financial data infrastructure in Mexico: about 12 times adjusted EBITDA at Círculo and an enterprise value of MXN 16,800 million at Buró.
For Mexican financial groups holding minority stakes in infrastructure (processors, bureaus, networks), the period shows two exits completed and one blocked: the Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio denied Visa’s purchase of 51% of Prosa in February 2026. In our reading, the competition analysis weighs differently when the buyer already holds a stake in the asset, as TransUnion did in Buró, than when it buys a direct competitor, as Visa did in Prosa.
G2’s reading for a mandate
A sale of financial infrastructure to a global strategic buyer is prepared with verified twelve-month figures, a vendor due diligence that anticipates the competition questions and a contract that isolates price from cash and debt. In our reading, the window for Círculo de Crédito opened with the TransUnion closing in March; a sell-side mandate must read the calendar of the buyer’s competitor as closely as its own.
Sources
- Equifax, 7 July 2026: Equifax announces definitive agreement to acquire Círculo de Crédito
- FintechExpert, 14 July 2026: Equifax compra Círculo de Crédito
- Mexico Business News, first half of 2026: Mexico M&A volume rises in 1H26 to US$116 billion
- TransUnion, 2 March 2026: TransUnion completes acquisition of majority ownership of the consumer credit business of Buró de Crédito
- El CEO, 16 January 2025: Banorte, Santander, HSBC y Scotiabank venden parte de su participación en Buró de Crédito
- Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio, 20 February 2026: La CNA niega la compra del 51% de Prosa