Mercato Partners Acquisition Corp., a publicly listed special purpose acquisition company based in Cottonwood Heights, has signed a merger agreement with Nvno Group Ltd. of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The business combination includes Mercato and Nvno Group companies, Nuvini Holdings Ltd., with all of its subsidiaries, and Nuvini Merger Sub Inc.
The parties anticipate that the Nuvini Group will hold 70 percent of the stock of the combined company and that all existing Nuvini shareholders will to roll 100 percent of their equity holdings into the combined company.
Nuvini acquires and manages a portfolio of high-growth business-to-business software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in Latin America, while Mercato Partners is a multi-practice investment firm that provides funding, strategic guidance and growth support for rapidly expanding technology, branded consumer companies as well as food and beverage companies. Mercato is led by led by Gregory Warnock, who serves as chairman and CEO.
Upon completion of the merger, the combined company will operate under the Nuvini name and its stock shares are expected to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NVNI. The business combination is expected to provide the Nuvini with access to the public equity capital markets in the U.S and thereby position it to continue growing its portfolio of SaaS companies.
Following the closing of the merger, Nuvini’s founder Pierre Schurmann will continue as CEO and Luis Busnello will continue as chief operating officer of the combined company.
“Going public would, by itself, be an important step on our long-term strategy to become the leaders of B2B SaaS in Latin America,” said Schurmann. “We believe partnering with a high-performing and experienced group like Mercato that is rooted in funding high-growth technology companies outside of high concentrated capital centers will be even more valuable.”
“We believe Nuvini will bring great value to our investors,” said Warnock. “Their vision to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and create value through long-term partnerships aligns perfectly to the foundational pillars for which we founded Mercato.”
The proposed business combination is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.