IT resumes pace of mergers and acquisitions
Valor Econômico
After a year of slower pace, the information technology sector, which has always been one of the most active in the area of mergers and acquisitions, seems ready to resume many of the plans deferred in 2009, due to the effects of the economic crisis. According to numbers of the KPMG, only in the first two months of the year 12 operations were recorded in the country, a record for the period. And the expectation is that the pace continues strong.
Companies like BBKO, Benner Sistemas, the Linx group and Ideiasnet see in such strategy the opportunity to grow faster in 2010. "It is early to say if we are going to break the record of transactions of 2008 [72 in total], but until May, at least, we will have many announcements", says Luís Motta, partner in charge of the area of mergers and acquisitions of KPMG. The executive foresees that the volume of transactions will be atypical in the first five months of the year due to the large volume of negotiations that have been resumed throughout the second half of 2009, when the economy began giving signs of improvement.
The consolidation has become increasingly more important for the IT companies because it gives them the size required to defend themselves from foreign rivals, who have sought businesses in the country. Besides, the strengthening of part of their customers has been requiring a greater scope of operation, more quickly obtained with the acquisitions. "Large companies require large suppliers", says Alberto Menache, CEO of the Linx group, of management systems for the retail. After the announcement of the purchase of two companies last month, Linx has planned two other operations for 2010. The company sold 21.7% of its capital to the BNDESpar, the investment branch of the BNDES (National Development Bank). The bank currently has interest in 100 IT companies.
The scale is a key point for the increase in the earnings. "The more complete the offer, the more you can charge and improve the margins", says Rodin Spielmann, Investor Relations Officer of Ideiasnet. Last year, the company, which works as an IT and Internet business holding, was involved in at least five operations. For 2008, the forecast is of new operations.