Sygnus enters Puerto Rico
Published:Sunday | December 26, 2021 | 12:11 AM
Sygnus Credit Investments Limited, SCI, has taken a majority stake in Puerto Rican private credit company, Acrecent Financial Corporation.
On December 22, 2021, through its newly formed subsidiary SCI Puerto Rico Inc, Sygnus entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire Acrecent. The closing of the transaction is pending regulatory approval of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, OCFI, in Puerto Rico.
“We’d promised shareholders to get to US$100 million in portfolio size by 2023. By all accounts, at US$93 million we’re almost there. In order to continue on this path, we are pushing through to bigger and deeper economies across the region,” said CEO of Sygnus Group Berisford Grey, adding that the new market also has opportunities for portfolio diversification, given Puerto’s Rico’s pharmaceutical, chemical and medical equipment industries.
“We see it as a big win for SCI investors in terms of diversification, growth opportunities and exposure to some industries that are not yet a part of the normal Caribbean space,” Grey said.
Started in 2003, Acrecent Financial Corporation is said to be one of the largest private credit companies in Puerto Rico. Its portfolio spans machinery and equipment lease financing in a range of industries; commercial real estate; and financing for capital, projects and business acquisition.
Grey said that, through Acrecent, Sygnus expects to do more business in the Caribbean and Latin American regions.
The value of the Acrecent transaction was not disclosed.