Mubadala leads BRL 550 million round at CERC, Fintech Leader in Receivables
Mubadala Capital is leading a R$550 million seed round in CERC, a market infrastructure company that records financial assets, including credit card receivables, people familiar with the matter told Brazil Journal.
Valor Capital, shareholder since 2020, is following the round. The deal values CERC at 1.6 billion reais (advance funds) and will give the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund about 23% of the company. According to people familiar with the matter, the resources will be split into two tranches: most of it now and the rest subject to certain conditions being met.
The search for an investor began about a year ago and the transaction comes at a time when the legislation on the treatment of receivables is already normalized in Brazil. Law No. 13476 of 2017 modernized the institutional credit environment with collateral and digital registration required for transactions with commercial obligations.
By law, the work of clerks was equal to that of notaries: they had a “public trust” and their value to others. Mubadala is an increasingly active investor in Brazil, with holdings in the energy, infrastructure and education sectors.
CERC will use resources to become a “one-stop-shop” for market infrastructure: in addition to what it already does (asset registry), CERC is moving towards British Columbia to become a repository and chamber of clearing – and intends to become a market center for commercial paper, card receivables and agribusiness receivables, bank securities and mortgage receivables.
CERC also has data startups to help its clients extend corporate credit, as well as blockchain-based products (e.g. asset tokenization infrastructure). The company competes with players such as CIP, Certificate of Bank and Tag, from Stone.
B3 already competes with CERC in certain assets such as banking and insurance securities, and is considering entering other markets. Established seven years ago, CERC was the first registrar recognized by a central bank and in 2018 was authorized to work on commercial invoices, post-dated checks and promissory notes.
The company was created by two market executives who saw an opportunity in the structural deficiencies of the credit system: Marcelo Mazziero – former director of derivatives at Itaú BBA and former director of Cetip – and Fernando Fontes, who worked in brokerage houses and founded the Bank of Petra, one of the leading companies in the field of fiduciary services for FIDCs.
Investors who have invested seed capital in the company include Fabio Barbosa, current CEO of Natura & Co; Marcus Lisboa, president of Insper; and José Buoncristiano, founder of Tempo Participações. G2D – the emerging investment holding company of GP Investimentos – owns 3.4% of CERC. UBS BB was the exclusive CERC advisor working with Lefosse. Matos Filo was Mubadala’s legal adviser.
