IFor owners
Acquirewe buy
When a company fits what we look for, we approach the owner directly. Many owner-operated companies in the region are family-held and have never been marketed.
What is my business worth?Region 03 / 03
Off-market businesses acrossLatin America
In brief
GLZR Group finds owner-operated businesses across Latin America that are not listed for sale, and connects them with buyers in the region, the U.S. and Canada. We acquire select companies ourselves and look at every opportunity country by country, because law and tax differ from country to country, and often language and currency do too.
What we do in Latin America
Acquire, source, connect.
Latin America is not one market. The same three roles apply everywhere, but every opportunity is read on its own country's terms.
IIFor buyers
Sourcewe find
Acquirers in the region, the U.S. and Canada can send us their sector, revenue range, check size and target countries. We bring them owner-operated companies that match, before any sale process begins.
Price an acquisitionIIIFor both
Connectwe introduce
When we are not the right buyer, we introduce the owner to an acquirer whose criteria the business meets, whether that buyer is local or crossing a border to get there.
Valuation multiples 2026Run the numbers
Price it before the first call.
Free calculators built on 2026 market multiples and the SBA rules in force from 1 October 2026, adjusted for country risk.
BuyersAcquisition calculator Price a target on 2026 multiples and test SBA 7(a) financing, coverage and returns.OwnersWhat is my business worth? Build your SDE, see the market range and what a financed buyer can actually pay.DataValuation multiples 2026 Multiples by deal size, deal financing and country-adjusted figures. CSV and JSON.
Definition
What is an off‑market business?
An off-market business is a company whose owner would consider selling but has not listed it with a broker or on a marketplace. Buyers reach it through a direct approach or a trusted introduction, so there is no public listing, no auction, and far fewer people see the numbers.
Off-market does not mean informal. The same diligence, advisers and legal documents apply. What changes is who is in the room, and when.
For owners
- No public listing for employees, customers or competitors to find.
- You set the pace, including deciding not to sell.
- Fewer parties see your figures than in a broadly marketed sale.
For buyers
- A first conversation with the owner, not a broker’s teaser.
- Less competition than a broadly marketed auction.
- Companies that match a stated mandate, not a list of everything for sale.
By the numbers
Latin America, in figures.
99.5%
Of businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises.
Source: OECD, CAF and SELA, SME Policy Index 2024c.60%
Approximate share of the region's formal employment that those enterprises account for.
Source: OECD, CAF and SELA, SME Policy Index 2024100%
Foreign ownership allowed in a Mexican company in most activities. The Foreign Investment Law reserves or caps specific ones.
Source: Ley de Inversión Extranjera, art. 4Figures are from the public sources linked under each one, checked 23 September 2026. They describe the market, not GLZR Group’s own activity.
Coverage
One region, many markets.
Mexico to Patagonia. Grouped here the way the region is usually described; the table below sets out the language and currency of each major market.
Latin America's second-largest economy and a partner in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Spanish; Mexican peso (MXN).
Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Panama and El Salvador use the U.S. dollar.
Including the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that uses the U.S. dollar and is subject to U.S. federal law alongside its own civil code.
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar.
Latin America's largest economy and its only Portuguese-speaking country. Brazilian real (BRL).
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
English-speaking Guyana, Dutch-speaking Suriname, and French Guiana, part of France. Usually treated separately from Latin America.
| Country | Language | Currency | ISO code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Spanish | Mexican peso | MXN |
| Brazil | Portuguese | Brazilian real | BRL |
| Argentina | Spanish | Argentine peso | ARS |
| Colombia | Spanish | Colombian peso | COP |
| Chile | Spanish | Chilean peso | CLP |
| Peru | Spanish | Sol | PEN |
| Ecuador | Spanish | U.S. dollar | USD |
| Uruguay | Spanish | Uruguayan peso | UYU |
| Paraguay | Spanish, Guaraní | Guaraní | PYG |
| Costa Rica | Spanish | Costa Rican colón | CRC |
| Panama | Spanish | Balboa and U.S. dollar | PAB / USD |
| Dominican Republic | Spanish | Dominican peso | DOP |
| Guatemala | Spanish | Quetzal | GTQ |
Where we look
Established businesses, nine sectors.
Profitable, owner-operated companies, often where the founder is thinking about retirement or succession and wants the business in the right hands.
- ManufacturingFabrication, machining, packaging and specialty production.
- Home servicesHVAC, plumbing, electrical and other residential trades.
- Construction and contractingGeneral and specialty contractors.
- Logistics and transportationTrucking, distribution, warehousing and last-mile delivery.
- Commercial and B2B servicesCleaning, facilities, staffing and other business services.
- Managed IT servicesManaged service providers and IT support firms.
- Niche B2B softwareVertical software built for a specific industry.
- Food and beverageProducers, co-packers and distributors.
- Main Street businessesEstablished local consumer businesses.
Process
How an off-market sale usually unfolds.
Six stages, from a first conversation to a closed deal. Timelines vary with the business and the buyer; the order rarely does.
A private first conversation
An owner and a prospective buyer, or GLZR Group itself, talk before anything is written down. Nothing is listed, and the owner decides what to share and when.
Fit
The business is read the way an acquirer reads it: how steady the earnings are, how concentrated the customers are, and how much still depends on the owner. Those factors shape any price discussion later.
Confidentiality before detail
Detailed financials, customer names and contracts are typically shared only after a confidentiality agreement is signed, and only with a buyer who fits.
Letter of intent
A serious buyer sets out price, structure, timing and conditions in a letter of intent.
Across Latin America a letter of intent plays a similar role, but civil-law rules differ, so it is usually drafted with local counsel.
Due diligence
The buyer checks what it has been told: financial statements, tax filings, contracts, employees, licenses and legal exposure. A quality-of-earnings review by an outside accounting firm is common.
Agreement, closing and transition
Lawyers turn the letter of intent into a purchase agreement and the deal closes. The owner usually stays on for an agreed transition so customers and staff carry over.
Most Latin American countries follow civil-law systems, where some steps must be formalized before a notary, a legal professional rather than a witness to signatures.
Local rules
What to know in Latin America.
Mexico has a new competition authority
Under a decree published in the Diario Oficial on July 16, 2025, the Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio took over COFECE's competition powers, including merger control. It formally began work on October 17, 2025.
Mexico's Foreign Investment Law lets foreign investors hold any proportion of a Mexican company's capital, except in activities the law reserves or caps.
Source: Diario Oficial de la Federación · Gobierno de México · Ley de Inversión Extranjera
Brazil: CADE thresholds, and few ownership limits
A deal must be notified to CADE when one group involved had gross turnover in Brazil of at least R$750 million in the prior year and another had at least R$75 million. Most owner-operated acquisitions fall below that.
Brazil has no general cap on foreign ownership. Restrictions are sector-specific, including health, media, telecommunications, aerospace, rural property and maritime.
Source: CADE · U.S. State Department, 2025
Chile and Colombia review larger deals in advance
Since June 1, 2017, larger business concentrations in Chile must be submitted to the Fiscalía Nacional Económica before they close.
In Colombia, companies in the same activity or value chain that meet the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio's thresholds must inform it before merging or acquiring control.
Source: Fiscalía Nacional Económica · Ley 1340 de 2009
Mexico and North American trade
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force on July 1, 2020. At the July 1, 2026 joint review the United States did not agree to renew it in its current form; it remains in force and is now reviewed every year.
For a Mexican business that exports to the U.S. or Canada, a buyer will want to understand how much of its revenue depends on that trade.
Source: USTR, USMCA · USTR, joint review statement
General information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Thresholds and rules change; confirm them with a qualified adviser in the relevant jurisdiction. Sources checked 23 September 2026.
Questions
Questions owners and buyers ask.
How are businesses valued in Latin America?
On a multiple of earnings, like anywhere else, but buyers demand a return for country risk. Applying Damodaran's January 2026 country risk premiums to the Q2 2026 U.S. multiple of 4.0x EBITDA for businesses valued $2 million to $5 million gives 3.67x in Mexico, 3.57x in Brazil, 3.87x in Chile and 2.90x in Argentina. These are GLZR Group estimates derived from public data, not observed deal prices.
Does GLZR Group work across all of Latin America?
We find off-market businesses across Latin America and assess each one on its own country's terms. Company law and tax differ from Mexico to Chile, and so, often, do language and currency, so every opportunity is looked at country by country.
Can a Latin American business owner sell to a U.S. or Canadian buyer?
Yes. Connecting owners with the right acquirer is part of what GLZR Group does, whether that buyer is in the region, the U.S. or Canada. A cross-border sale adds foreign-investment, tax and currency questions that local counsel should answer early.
How do off-market sales work in Latin America?
Much as they do elsewhere: a private first conversation, a confidentiality agreement before detailed figures are shared, a letter of intent, due diligence and a final agreement. The differences are local: in most of the region some steps must be formalized before a notary, and documents are usually prepared in Spanish or Portuguese.
What sectors does GLZR Group look at in Latin America?
Established, profitable, owner-operated companies in manufacturing, home and commercial services, construction, logistics, managed IT, niche B2B software, food and beverage, and Main Street businesses.
I'm a buyer looking at Latin America. What should I send GLZR Group?
Email contact@glzrgroup.com with your sector focus, revenue or EBITDA range, check size and the countries you want to buy in. We only send opportunities that fit those criteria.
Price a Latin American target with the acquisition calculator
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