By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian software company Totvs SA is eyeing targets for acquisitions this year beyond StoneCo’s Linx unit, Chief Executive Dennis Herszkowicz said in an interview, adding the company will not need to sell assets to finance deals.
Totvs has shown interest in Linx since 2020, when StoneCo won a bidding war by paying 6.7 billion reais ($1.22 billion) for the retail software developer. In April, Totvs entered exclusive negotiations with StoneCo to acquire the unit.
Herszkowicz said those talks were ongoing and an acquisition would be beneficial, given Linx’s leading position in providing software for Brazilian retailers. But he said closing the deal was not essential for the company’s growth.
“Totvs is very broad. And our portfolio is very wide. There isn’t one acquisition that solves everything we want to solve,” Herszkowicz told Reuters in a Tuesday interview.
He said accelerating trends in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital technology had created several opportunities where acquisitions offered effective shortcuts.
Totvs is present in several Latin American countries, but the company is focused on deals in Brazil, which represents the “overwhelming majority” of its business, the CEO said.
Herszkowicz declined to give details on the timing or transaction values under negotiation for Linx or other assets.
He said Totvs had not hired an advisor to sell its stake in financial technology firm Dimensa, a joint venture with Brazil exchange operator B3, again denying a local media report.
Any acquisitions by Totvs this year will not rely on capital from divestitures, which the company doesn’t need to finance deals, according to Herszkowicz.
“Like any company, at any moment, we always have the possibility to evaluate anything. Now, there’s nothing (related to Dimensa) effectively happening at this moment,” he said.
($1 = 5.49 reais)
(Reporting by Luciana MagalhaesEditing by Brad Haynes and David Evans)
