The largest Latin American e-commerce and fintech player, MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), agrees to join Aleph Group (“Aleph”) as a shareholder, signaling the growth potential in the global digital advertising industry. Aleph operates in Latin America through IMS Internet Media Services.

MercadoLibre has agreed to acquire a $25M stake in Aleph and additionally, will collaborate with IMS Internet Media Services on monetizing advertising space on MercadoLibre’s digital properties in countries where MercadoLibre does not have local sales operations. Further, MercadoLibre and Aleph will partner to explore and collaborate in new business development opportunities in digital advertising.

The largest Latam e-commerce and fintech player, MercadoLibre (MELI), agrees to join Aleph Group as a shareholder.

This is a period of significant growth and momentum for Aleph who recently announced that CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII acquired a minority stake in Aleph for $470M valuing the company at $2 Billion.

“It is an honor for us to have MercadoLibre as a shareholder. This is a clear endorsement of the growth opportunity Aleph has ahead in realizing our global vision: digital media has the power to unlock economic development and should be experienced equally everywhere around the globe,” said Gastón Taratuta, Aleph Founder and CEO. “We have known Marcos and his team for more than two decades and this is a great opportunity to work together.”

“We are excited to support Aleph’s growth within the global advertising ecosystem. We know of the enormous potential of online advertising and I am confident that this strategic investment and synergy between both companies will continue to enhance the development of digital advertising in the region,” said Marcos Galperin, CEO and Founder of MercadoLibre. “I have known Ignacio and Gastón for more than 20 years. I trust their execution and I’m very enthusiastic about working with them. We look forward to contributing to Aleph’s expansion and exploring new opportunities together.”

“We are thrilled to partner with MercadoLibre, a company that we admire and that is becoming a key player in the digital advertising space. With this operational agreement we are looking to enhance IMS Internet Media Services’ offering and position in Latin America, reinforcing us as a leader in the region.” said Ignacio Vidaguren, Aleph COO and IMS CEO, who was formerly a senior executive at MercadoLibre for over 10 years.

The transaction, which is subject to preparation of final documentation, is expected to close by the end of August.

About Aleph

Aleph is the largest global digital media partner. In over 90 markets worldwide, we are entrusted to connect the biggest players in digital media with the advertisers that rely on them. Exclusive partners in different countries include: Twitter, Spotify, Snapchat, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Twitch, Tripadvisor and EA amongst others.

Aleph helps advertisers maximize the value of their investment through a complete service ecosystem – comprising innovative proprietary technology, digital expertise and deeply embedded local market knowledge. Our teams help brands to master the leading digital platforms, bringing them closer to their customers. These services are delivered through our portfolio of digital media service brands: IMS; Httpool; WISE.BLUE; Social Snack; Ad Dynamo and Connect Ads (pending regulatory approval).

At the same time, we act as an extension to the leading players in digital, giving them access to new and under-served markets. Our global infrastructure and scale mean that we can build any market into a new success story. As a trusted partner to the whole of the digital community, we believe that growth generates growth. That’s why we unlock the last mile in digital media.

For more information please visit: www.alephholding.com or contactus@alephholding.com.

About MercadoLibre

MercadoLibre hosts the largest online commerce and payments ecosystem in Latin America. Our efforts are centered on enabling e-commerce and digital and mobile payments on behalf of our customers by delivering a suite of technology solutions across the complete value chain of commerce. We are present in 18 countries including: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru. Based on unique visitors and page views we are market leaders in each of the major countries where we are present.

Through our online commerce platform and related services, we provide our users with robust online commerce and payments tools that not only contribute to the development of a large and growing e-commerce community in Latin America (a region with a population of over 646 million people and one of the fastest-growing Internet penetration rates in the world), but also foster entrepreneurship and social mobility. Our main focus is to deliver compelling technological and commercial solutions that address the distinctive cultural and geographic challenges of operating an online commerce and payments platform in Latin America.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements herein regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements convey MercadoLibre, Inc.’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause MercadoLibre, Inc.’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in the “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” sections of MercadoLibre, Inc.’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021, and any of MercadoLibre, Inc.’s other applicable filings with the SEC. Unless required by law, MercadoLibre, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date hereof.