BBVA is partnering with Nasdaq Private Market to give more than 1,800 high-growth companies in Latin America a new path to liquidity, addressing a growing demand for early exits in a region where venture-backed firms are staying private longer.
"Founders and investors are increasingly looking for ways to unlock liquidity without forcing an exit," Rodrigo Velasco, head of BBVA Spark in Latin America, said in a statement. "By partnering with Nasdaq Private Market... we’re facilitating connections for our clients to be able to structure secondary transactions."
The strategic collaboration operates on a referral basis, allowing BBVA's clients in Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina to access NPM's regulated platform for structuring tender offers and other private secondary sales. The move comes as the U.S. secondary market saw $35 billion in company-led tender offers alone in 2025, a model the partnership seeks to expand in Latin America.
The deal provides a crucial mechanism for employee and founder equity monetization, a key factor in talent retention and attracting new capital. For BBVA, it adds a significant value proposition to its nearly €1 billion financing portfolio, while for NPM, it opens a channel to a curated list of top-tier private companies in a high-growth market.
The agreement aims to create a more mature private market ecosystem across Latin America by making structured liquidity a standard feature for scaling companies. As private firms increasingly delay public offerings, providing ways for early investors and employees to realize gains has become critical for managing equity and retaining talent.
"BBVA has made an exceptional investment in supporting those founders across Latin America - and that commitment is exactly what we look for in a partner," said Sam Tortora, Chief Growth Officer at Nasdaq Private Market. He noted that NPM brings over a decade of experience in building structured liquidity programs.
The partnership combines NPM's platform, which has executed nearly $80 billion in secondary transactions for over 200,000 individuals, with BBVA's deep relationships in the region. The bank's specialized unit serves more than 1,800 clients and has deployed close to €1 billion in financing. This collaboration allows founders to bring in new institutional investors or provide partial exits for existing shareholders without diluting equity through a new funding round.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
