Band David French

June 2 (Reuters) – Mexican payments network Prosa is exploring a sale that could value it at more than $ 1 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Owned by a consortium of banks including Grupo Financiero Banorte GFNOREO.MX and local HSBC subsidiaries HSBA.L and Banco Santander SAN.MC, Prosa provides the infrastructure that facilitates more than half of payments in Mexico.

It is also one of the largest payment processors in Latin America, performing around 4.7 billion transactions in 2020.

A sale process for Prosa run by an investment bank has been underway in recent weeks, with the company attracting interest from a number of major payments and fintech firms, the sources said, who warned that ‘There was no guarantee that a deal would be made.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters. Prosa did not respond to requests for comment.

Companies that process digital payments across Latin America have attracted great interest from private and public investors, as well as companies looking to access a growing market, due to a young population keen on technology and the fact that many countries traditionally lack banking infrastructure.

Wednesday, dLocal Ltd, based in Montevideo, Uruguay DLO.O is due to the price of an initial public offering on the Nasdaq that will value the company, which processes payments in 29 primarily emerging countries, up to $ 5 billion. The listing has already secured backing from US asset management firm Fidelity Management and Research.

Last year Visa Inc VN bought the payment start-up YellowPepper, which operates in nine Latin American countries, to strengthen its offerings in the region.

The other banks that own part of Prosa are Invex Controladora INVEXA.MX, Banjercito, and the local unit of the Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO.

(Reporting by David French in New York; Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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