Sermatec seeks partner and diversifies operation to resume growth
Valor Econômico
The capital goods industry of Sertãozinho (SP), Sermatec, controlled by the Biagi family, of traditional millers of the country is undergoing restructure that goes through the diversification of the activities of the company and search for new partners. Fully stricken by the global financial crisis as well as by the period of turbulence that affected the alcohol and sugar sector, between 2008 and 2009, the shareholders of the company are looking for a new identity for their business.
In an interview to Valor, Antonio Carlos Christiano, CEO of the company, said the company wants to reduce its dependence on the alcohol sector and it is opening the sphere of operation to work in new segments, such as paper and pulp, oil and gas - strategy that was also adopted by its main national competitors, such as Dedini, headquartered in Piracicaba (SP).
The company that practically saw its earnings melt during the most critical period of the crisis, wants to attract new members - both the investment funds and the companies that already operate in such segment. The shareholders have contracted the consulting firm Stratus to attract those new partners. "In the coming months we should define the new shareholder. The family, however, wants to keep the control of the company", said Christiano. The Executive was hired nine months ago by the shareholders of the company to give a new path to Sermatec. Christiano, a former Executive of Dedini, who also worked for Villares and Inepar, said Sermatec is already to get back to the road.
Nearly 10 days ago the company closed a contract with the Argentine Papel Misionero, owned by the Zucamor group, for the delivery of a Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler (it burns residues with the lesser emission of gases). The business value amounts to US$ 20 million for the delivery in up to 24 months, but that may be anticipated. This is an important step taken by the company in the diversification of its businesses. The company is also negotiating with Petrobras in order to make its registration as a supplier of equipment for the oil and gas industries. "Sugar and alcohol currently represent nearly 100% of the earnings of the company. The purpose is to have it fallen to up to 50%". The goal of Sermatec, after the period of crisis and the resumption of its growth, is to become a company with earnings of R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 833 million) within the next three to five years. There are also plans to go public in the future, according to Christiano.
Exports are also part of Sermatec's strategy. The company has four contracts in force, and a great part of them is still focused on sugar and alcohol. One of them with Odebrecht, which is building an ethanol plant in Angola. There are also projects for the sale of equipment for power plants in Mexico and Colombia. "We will also become a service renderer. We are going to perform maintenance in plant equipment during the period between two harvests of the sugarcane (December to April), for instance. We have learned from the crisis in the sector, and we do not want the same story to be repeated".