SilverBlue speeds up private credit for SMEs after acquiring Vector funds
The firm aims to place up to 1.5 billion pesos in corporate debt this year, betting on asset-backed lending amid weak economic growth.
SilverBlue, an asset manager focused on financing through debt structures, raised its bet on Mexico’s private credit market after acquiring Vector Partners’ private debt funds and forming the SilverBlue Mezzanine Funds platform. The firm set a goal of providing financing to companies of up to 1.5 billion pesos this year—equivalent to 37% of a total target of 4 billion pesos—with deal sizes ranging roughly from 80 million to 300 million pesos per transaction.
The transaction comes at a time when access to productive credit remains a bottleneck for growth. In Mexico, bank lending to the private sector as a share of GDP remains below that of comparable economies, and a large portion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still depends on suppliers, trade credit, or short-term products with high rates. In that context, private debt funds have gained ground as an alternative for companies seeking working capital, refinancing, or expansion but that don’t fully fit the traditional banking profile.
According to the company, the strategy prioritizes deals backed by “real” assets and avoids speculative investments, such as projects without collateral or young companies without a sufficient operating track record. The thesis is to attract third-party capital with the promise of competitive returns, in exchange for taking on risks inherent to non-bank corporate credit, supported by deep underwriting and tighter contractual structures (covenants, collateral, seniority, and payment schedules).
The acquisition process was influenced by the management team and its historical performance, with an emphasis on disciplined origination and monitoring. The deal also comes after the U.S. Department of the Treasury United States flagged Vector Casa de Bolsa and two banks in 2025 for alleged money laundering and drug-trafficking financing—an episode that weighed on perceptions of reputational risk around the group. SilverBlue has maintained that the acquired unit did not operate within the broker-dealer and that the business purchased was not under the scrutiny of those authorities; still, the transaction illustrates how markets reshuffle assets and teams when confidence is shaken, and how legal and compliance due diligence becomes a decisive factor in raising capital.
The sector focus, the company says, will be broad—healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services, among others—as long as there is asset backing and verifiable cash flow. In practice, this type of financing often sits between traditional bank lending and private equity: it charges higher rates than top-tier bank loans, but it offers more structural flexibility, faster turnaround times, and tailored solutions for mid-sized companies.
Private credit in Mexico: opportunity and risks in a low-growth environment
The push into private credit is happening as Mexico’s economy shows signs of slowing and bouts of stagnation. With weak activity—reflected in only marginal gains in the IGAE after prior declines—companies face a complex mix: high financing costs due to the restrictive monetary stance of recent years, more selective consumption, and an investment cycle that increasingly depends on regulatory certainty and manufacturing integration with the United States. In that scenario, non-bank financing can serve as a bridge to maintain inventories, expand capacity, or capture orders tied to the nearshoring trend, but it also increases the importance of carefully assessing collateral quality and the resilience of cash flows to external shocks.
For investors, private debt can deliver attractive returns compared with liquid instruments, but at the cost of lower liquidity and a greater need for governance: valuation, reporting, borrower concentration, and compliance controls. For SMEs, access to amounts of 80 million to 300 million pesos typically corresponds to mid-sized companies or more sophisticated SMEs, with stronger administrative structures and the ability to provide audited financial information—leaving out a large segment of micro and small businesses. Even so, the growth of these platforms can help expand the supply of productive credit if paired with prudent practices and transparency on costs and terms.
Looking ahead, the performance of initiatives such as SilverBlue Mezzanine Funds will depend on their ability to originate deals with solid collateral, manage concentration risk, and navigate an environment where trust and regulatory compliance are increasingly important to attracting capital—especially as international scrutiny of financial flows in the region has intensified.
