Bankaool

MEXICO CITY — Most executives avoid troubled companies. The numbers are bad, the problems are deep, and the reputational risk of failure outweighs the potential upside of success. It's safer to acquire healthy businesses or build from scratch than to bet on reviving organisations that others have written off.

Moises Chaves sees opportunity where others see risk.

The OMNi chairman has committed substantial capital to acquiring and revitalising two struggling Mexican businesses, with plans to integrate them into his recent success story, Bankaool:

  • Marzam, a century-old pharmaceutical distributor that was exploring options to wind down operations
  • Jüsto, a venture-backed grocery delivery platform that raised more than $300 million but couldn't find a path to profitability

Both acquisitions raised eyebrows. What does a fintech disruptor want with pharmaceutical distribution and grocery delivery? And why target businesses facing existential challenges rather than healthy operations?

The answers reveal a distinctive philosophy about corporate transformation—one that Chaves now aims to prove works across industries, not just in banking.

'Most people look at a struggling company and see problems', Chaves said in a recent conversation. 'I see assets that aren't being used properly. It's usually not that the business is broken—it's that nobody has figured out how to make it work under current conditions.'

This philosophy — that struggling companies deserve second chances and can be revitalised through strategic intervention — drives an approach to value creation that challenges conventional business wisdom.

Chaves applied it successfully at Bankaool, where aggressive investment in talent, technology, and expansion drove the bank's rapid credit-rating improvement. Over 24 months, the bank's rating jumped from D to BB+, a trajectory credit analysts described as nearly unprecedented.

Now he is testing whether the same principles can work in pharmaceutical distribution and grocery delivery—two sectors seemingly far removed from financial services.

The approach has earned him the nickname 'Midas Moises' in Mexican business circles—a reference to both his success rate and his belief that the right leadership can transform struggling assets into profitable businesses.

Not everyone is convinced.

'One turnaround doesn't make you a turnaround specialist', said a Mexico City–based private equity investor who requested anonymity. 'Banking is what he knows. Can that expertise translate to running a pharmaceutical distributor or a grocery delivery service? That's a much bigger question.'

The Contrarian Thesis

Corporate turnarounds fail often enough that most investors and executives approach them with extreme caution.

Studies suggest that fewer than one in three attempted turnarounds succeed, and even successful ones often take years to generate meaningful returns.

Chaves doesn't dispute the numbers. He argues most turnarounds fail because they are approached incorrectly—due to insufficient capital, inadequate strategic vision, or half-hearted commitment that prevents the comprehensive changes required for genuine transformation.

'The usual playbook is about survival mode', he says. 'Cut everything, consolidate, preserve cash, hope things get better. Sometimes that works. But you're not building anything—you're just trying not to die. That's not interesting to me.'

His alternative approach begins with a different question: What would this organisation look like if it had adequate capital, modern infrastructure, and strategic clarity?

Rather than accepting the constraints that created the current problems, Chaves reimagines what the business could become if those constraints were removed.

This requires substantial capital investment precisely when troubled companies are starved for resources. It demands speed rather than gradualism, creating momentum that builds credibility with employees, customers, and stakeholders. And, perhaps most importantly, it requires a willingness to pursue dramatic change—not just operational improvements but fundamental strategic repositioning.

The bank's credit rating jumped from D to BB+ in twenty-four months in a trajectory credit analysts tend to label nearly unprecedented.

Testing the Model: Marzam and Jüsto

The real test of any business philosophy is whether it generalises beyond the context where it first succeeded. Chaves is now attempting precisely that.

Marzam, founded in the early 1900s, is Mexico's oldest pharmaceutical distributor. The company built relationships with hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and healthcare providers over more than a century.

But like many legacy businesses, it struggled to adapt to modern competitive dynamics and operational complexity. By 2024, it was exploring options to wind down operations.

Jüsto's situation differed but presented similar challenges. The online grocery platform raised more than $300 million in venture capital and reached a valuation exceeding $1 billion. It developed sophisticated logistics technology and built a strong customer base in Mexico's urban markets.

Yet, like many venture-backed last-mile delivery companies, it struggled to achieve profitability. Unit economics were difficult, competition intense, and the path to sustainable operations unclear.

Both companies faced potential shutdowns or drastic downsizing. Both possessed valuable assets—market relationships, operational infrastructure, technology platforms, and brand recognition—that were underutilised or strategically misaligned.

Chaves saw what he had seen at Bankaool: organisations with real value trapped by strategic confusion, inadequate capital, or an inability to adapt to changing market conditions.

Whether that commitment is visionary or overconfident remains an open question. The skill sets required to run a bank differ substantially from those needed to manage pharmaceutical distribution or grocery logistics. Chaves is betting that the principles of transformation matter more than domain expertise, a thesis that will be tested over the next few years.

'The fundamentals of corporate transformation don't change much across sectors', he argues. 'You need capital. You need strategic clarity. You need to move quickly enough to build momentum. You need leadership that can make difficult decisions and execute consistently. These principles apply whether you're running a bank, distributing pharmaceuticals, or delivering groceries.'

The financial commitment matches the strategic ambition.

OMNi has committed substantial capital injections into both Marzam and Jüsto, not just to stabilise operations but to fund genuine transformation.

New leadership teams are being built. Technology infrastructure is being modernised. Strategic direction is being clarified. The same playbook that worked at Bankaool is being applied to very different businesses.

The Philosophy of Second Chances

Underlying the tactical decisions is a broader belief: companies deserve second chances.

'Business culture tends to be unforgiving of failure', Chaves observes. 'A company struggles, and the narrative becomes about what went wrong and why it was inevitable. But often these organisations have real value—they're just stuck.'

This philosophy extends to his view of industry boundaries. Where most executives define themselves by sector, Chaves sees artificial constraints limiting strategic possibilities.

'Industries are just categories', he argues. 'Banking, pharma distribution, grocery—at the end of the day, you're serving customers with recurring needs. If you can serve them better by combining services, why wouldn't you?'

That thinking underpins his broader ambition: building an integrated platform that combines financial services with healthcare distribution and food retail. The banking infrastructure serves as the backbone, enabling other services to plug into a unified ecosystem.

Critics point out that this sounds appealing in theory but is notoriously difficult to execute in practice. 'Super App' strategies have failed in multiple markets. Cross-industry integration creates complexity that often destroys more value than it creates. The track record of banks diversifying into non-financial businesses is not encouraging.

'The most interesting opportunities exist at the intersections between industries', he suggests. 'That's where you find needs that aren't being well served because everyone is too focused on their own sector. If you're willing to work across boundaries, you can create value that specialists in any single industry can't match.'

The Execution Challenge

Philosophy and capital alone don't guarantee successful turnarounds. Execution matters enormously, and cross-industry transformations present distinctive challenges.

Cultural integration proves difficult when combining organisations with very different operating models and mindsets. Banks think about risk differently than retail operations.

Pharmaceutical distribution has regulatory requirements and operational constraints that don't exist in grocery delivery. Creating cohesive organisations from these diverse businesses requires more than org charts and integration plans.

Chaves acknowledges these challenges. 'Transforming the bank was messy', he admits. 'We had technology rollouts that didn't go as planned. Culture clashes between old-school bankers and the tech people we brought in. Hired some people who didn't work out. But we kept pushing, adjusted when things didn't work, and got there eventually.'

The question is whether 'eventually' is good enough when you're trying to turn around two additional businesses simultaneously while integrating all three into a coherent platform. The timeline matters, and capital is patient only to a point. By the same token, market conditions can shift and competitors won't wait.

The approach to Marzam and Jüsto reflects lessons learned. Rather than rushing integration, the strategy allows these businesses to maintain operational independence initially while systematically connecting them to Bankaool's infrastructure and capabilities. Customer-facing integration will happen gradually as the underlying systems and processes align.

Capital deployment is being staged to match execution capabilities. Initial investments focus on stabilising operations and addressing immediate needs. Subsequent investments fund strategic initiatives and growth opportunities as the organisations demonstrate ability to execute effectively.

Leadership teams combine industry expertise with transformation experience. Marzam and Jüsto retain leaders who understand their specific sectors while adding executives who bring perspective from the Bankaool transformation and other successful turnarounds.

'You can't parachute in generic management consultants and expect transformation to work', Chaves observes. 'You need people who understand the specific business but also have experience driving real change. That combination is harder to find but essential for success.'

What Success Looks Like

Over the next two to three years, Chaves aims to demonstrate that his transformation methodology can succeed beyond banking.

For Marzam, success means modernising operations while leveraging its century-long relationships and market presence. Integration with Bankaool's financial services could enable healthcare financing and embedded banking capabilities that standalone distributors cannot easily offer.

For Jüsto, success means solving the profitability challenge that plagues last-mile delivery. Integration could reduce customer acquisition costs, enable cross-selling, and support a sustainable business model without relying on perpetual venture subsidies.

Broader success would validate a Mexico-specific Super App model—one integrating banking, healthcare distribution, and grocery delivery into a cohesive platform serving essential, recurring needs.

'We're not trying to be everything to everyone', Chaves clarifies. 'We're focused on essential services—banking, healthcare, food. If we can serve those better through one integrated platform, we create value for customers while building a defensible business.'

The Broader Implications

The Chaves approach to corporate transformation raises questions that extend well beyond these specific acquisitions. If troubled companies can be systematically revitalised through adequate capital, strategic clarity, and disciplined execution, what does that mean for how we think about corporate failure?

The conventional narrative treats business failure as natural selection. Weak companies die, strong ones survive, and the economy benefits from this creative destruction. There's truth in this perspective. But it may also overlook value that's being destroyed unnecessarily when troubled companies shut down rather than transform.

'Not every struggling company deserves to survive', Chaves acknowledges. 'Some businesses have no viable path forward, and closing is the right outcome. But we're too quick to give up on organisations that could be saved. We write off companies that have real assets and capabilities just because they're currently not well managed or properly positioned.'

If he's right, there's a systematic opportunity in providing capital and expertise to troubled businesses that possess underlying value. This isn't conventional private equity, which typically acquires healthy businesses and optimises them. It's a more contrarian strategy focused on organisations that others have abandoned.

The strategy requires different skills than most executives possess:

  • A particular kind of expertise to assess underlying value and separate it from current performance.
  • Access to capital and willingness to deploy it when outcomes are uncertain.
  • Comfort with complexity and ambiguity.
  • Execution capabilities that work across diverse situations and industries.

These requirements explain why relatively few executives pursue this approach, even though the potential returns can be substantial when it works. It's easier to acquire successful businesses or build from scratch than to rescue troubled ones. The risk-reward calculation favors conventional strategies for most situations.

But for those willing to develop the necessary capabilities and accept the risks, the opportunity set is large. At any given time, numerous businesses face existential challenges despite possessing valuable assets. Many would survive and thrive with different leadership, adequate capital, and strategic repositioning. The question is whether anyone will provide those resources before the companies shut down.

What's Next

Chaves remains focused on execution. The next two to three years will determine whether Marzam and Jüsto thrive under new ownership and whether the cross-industry integration creates sustainable advantages.

If successful, the model could expand to other essential sectors across Mexico and Latin America. If it fails, it may stand as a cautionary tale about ambition outpacing execution.

'I believe in what we're building', Chaves says. 'These companies have assets that can work. But believing isn't enough—we have to execute.'

Whether his second-chance philosophy becomes a blueprint for corporate revival or a high-profile experiment in overreach will soon become clear.

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