Ascenda Capital Acquires Vialterna

Heriberto Garcia, the founder of Vialterna, a leading telecommunications services provider for enterprise customers in Mexico, is a very positive person. In fact, he wrote a book titled La Incredible Maquina Del Tiempo (translated: The Incredible Time Machine), which stresses his philosophy that if you mentally travel in time and celebrate good things that will happen in the future, then you've already put yourself on a path to success. In other words, if you envision good things, they will happen.

That positivity became manifest in the successful sale of his company to Mexican investment firm Ascenda Capital Partners in January 2026. Garcia visualized that result years earlier when he attended a Corum conference on tech M&A called Selling Up Selling Out and met Corum Founder and CEO Bruce Milne. At the time, Garcia had not started a company, but he was so impressed with Milne and Corum's tech M&A process that he told himself, "I'm going to build a company and Corum is going to sell it." And that's exactly what happened.

Handling an obstacle with positivity and confidence

Positivity and confidence also got Garcia through some obstacles during the M&A process. Corum's initial launch of Vialterna to the M&A market quickly elicited a number of good verbal offers from prospective buyers. Garcia was ready to pursue the best offer when a major obstacle got in the way. The company making that bid had a major financial downturn and had to rescind their offer. By that time the other bidders had moved on and could not be reengaged.  

However that did not diminish Garcia's confidence. Taking advantage of Corum's hiatus program. which gives sellers an opportunity to pause their participation in the M&A process with the intention of returning to it at a later time when conditions are more favorable, Garcia used that time to optimize a number of things in his company making it more attractive to buyers. That effort paid off. After going back into the M&A market, Garcia received an offer from Ascenda Capital that was even better from a monetary and tax structure standpoint than the initial verbal offers.

Valuable lessons learned

Through the process, Garcia learned a number of valuable lessons that he wants to pass on to other tech company sellers. 

• Be knowledgeable about valuations. Garcia says, "You may think your company is worth a certain amount. But it could be much more or it could be much less than you think. And if that valuation doesn't meet your expectations, work to improve your company in a way that makes it more attractive.  Work on improving key parameters, key financials, taxes, as well as legal and technical issues.
• Go through a pre-due diligence process. Garcia notes that the due diligence process can expose a seller to unanticipated requests. He advises that if the seller runs a pre-due diligence process, "it will help big time." Garcia stresses the extreme importance of having everything documented and ready to share with the buyer. This is especially important regarding financial and legal issues. Garcia's advice: "Don’t leave these issues to the end. You need to consider them from the very beginning, and share that information with the buyer. Let the buyer know what’s involved, and what's needed."
• Be yourself. Garcia stresses the importance of being authentic during the M&A process. He advises, "Run your company as you always have. Don't be distracted by the selling effort ‒ you still need to operate your business."

Life after the deal

After the acquisition by Ascenda Capital, Garcia continues his involvement with Vialterna as its Chief Technology Officer. He notes that, as is the case with most acquisitions, there is a transition period after the deal. In fact, he stresses the importance for sellers to expect a transition period.  His advice to sellers: "Don't make the mistake that someone is going to buy your company as if someone is buying your car. If you sell a car, basically you get the money immediately and the car is gone. When you sell a company, there will be a transition period that can last months or even years. Don't assume that everything is going to happen the next day."

As its CTO, Garcia envisions great things for Vialterna as it enters a new phase, strengthened by the talent and support of Ascenda Capital. And he continues to maintain his positive view of life, celebrating the good things that will happen in the future.