MexMoves

We interview Manuel Rodríguez Arregui, head of AINDA, the infrastructure and energy private equity fund focused on Mexico and Colombia. We discuss how AINDA sees the opportunities and challenges in financing Mexico’s much-needed infrastructure and energy projects, how the firm creates value across its portfolio, and why incorporating the highest ESG standards at every level of the company is key to raising capital and investing wisely in private equity.

First, Eduardo and Damian cover the week’s major business themes. Stagflation fears are rising after weak growth and high inflation readings in the first months of the year. Walmex’s Investor Day sought to answer investor questions around execution, pricing strategy, inventory management, leadership changes, and rising competition from hard discounters and e-commerce players. We also discuss what a Pemex-Petrobras alliance could mean, and how Mexico’s casino and betting business has become a major consumer, technology, and cash-flow story.

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This week we chat with Marcos Bucay, showrunner of La Oficina, about bringing The Office TV show to Mexico and what it reveals about hierarchy, nepotism, and the absurdities of corporate life a la mexicana. And in a bonus, top Stripe executive Neetika Bansal also joins us to explain how Stripe is adapting to the Mexican market and its vision for the growing role of stablecoins in global and local payments.
First, Eduardo and Damian analyse the key Mexico business stories of the week: the takeover battle around Fibra Macquarie as Fibra Monterrey and Funo’s Next enter the fray; the surprising split between OXXO and Nu; Alsea’s growth strategy as outlined at its New York investor day; and takeaways from the ABM meeting in Cancun, where top banks are talking and talking about SME credit and how to accelerate the shift from cash to digital payments.

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We talk with Guillermo Zamarripa, president of Mexico’s pension fund association, Amafore, about the growing importance of Mexico’s pension funds, including their role in the country’s long-term savings, capital markets, infrastructure and private assets, the challenge of ensuring adequate pensions as the population ages, and the structural or regulatory changes still needed for the Afore system to play a larger role in the economy. In the first part, Eduardo and I discuss Fibra Monterrey’s successful follow-on offering and what it says about continued investor appetite for Mexican equities, the broader consolidation wave in industrial real estate, why global tensions may actually strengthen Mexico’s nearshoring story, BBVA Mexico’s investor update and how it has out-finteched the fintechs while maintaining “principalidad,” Mexico’s latest billionaire list and what it reveals about the country’s wealth structure, and the growing foreign investment flowing into Liga MX.

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Felipe Vallejo, Country Head of Bitso Mexico, explains how the company is pivoting from a crypto-first exchange into a broader investing and payments platform, leveraging stablecoins to facilitate business payments and offering individuals non-crypto digital products including global stocks and bonds.

A geopolitically driven oil price spike is no longer the windfall it once was for Mexico. With the country now a structural energy importer, higher oil prices can marginally worsen the external balance and, through the IEPS fuel-tax buffer, create a fiscal hit that can outweigh the upside from crude exports, potentially leaving Pemex stronger but the federal deficit weaker.

Next, we look at Bloomberg and Whitepaper’s profiles of Fernando Chico Pardo, the new chairman of Banamex. What have learnt that is new? Finally we cover Mexico fintech fundraising and product expansion. DolarApp’s rebrand to ARQ signals a shift from cross-border finance toward a daily-use platform combining FX, cards, investing and credit, backed by major global investors (Sequoia and Founders Fund, no less). We also discuss Ualá’s ambitions in Mexico and why public data suggests its progress in the market seems problematic despite continued fundraising momentum.

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This week we chat with Gina Diez Barroso, founder of CENTRO University, and a leading Mexican voice in education, innovation, urban renovation, arts and women in business. She reflects on the evolution of Mexico’s creative economy, and what it takes to build globally competitive creative business leaders in Mexico and elsewhere.

We also speak with Edmundo Sandoval of Control Risks, the global risk consultancy, on how companies navigate insecurity, cartel dynamics, and extortion in Mexico, especially timely given the recent operation against the CJNG and the retaliatory violence that followed.

To kick off, Eduardo and I break down 2025 full-year corporate results, focusing on FEMSA and Mercado Libre. We also analyze major corporate moves of the week, including Fibra Prologis’ bid for Fibra Macquarie, a sign that consolidation is returning to Mexico’s industrial real estate market and, potentially, the capital markets more broadly.

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