Technology M&As Move R$ 16.7 Billion Through July

(Valor Econômico) Major deals, especially in the software sector, have reignited activity after a long off-season and discounted assets.

Large transactions in the technology sector have regained traction in Brazil, after a “winter” that forced startups to adjust their businesses and pursue profitability. After a few years on standby, the sector has shown signs of recovery in recent months — deals reached R$ 16.7 billion in the year through July. In the same period in 2024, according to market data, the figure was R$ 13 billion — and R$ 12 billion for the whole of 2023.

The trend is upward. Considering global M&A data in the sector this year, the volume has reached US$ 2.3 trillion, according to consultancy Dealogic, a 50% increase compared to all of 2024.

There were 34 deals in the first seven months of this year involving software companies alone, according to RGS, an M&A boutique. In 2024, there were 37 in total. The numbers are still far from those seen in 2021, during the pandemic, when abundant global liquidity and the pursuit of digitalization triggered a rush for sector assets. That year, the hottest in history, 114 transactions were recorded.

Among the major deals announced during the period was the sale of Linx, by Stone, to Totvs. Another landmark transaction was the sale of Conta Azul to Visma, a Norwegian software giant for small and medium-sized enterprises. The minority investment by General Atlantic in Starian, from Softplan, was also one of the year’s highlights so far. Another significant deal was the investment by Partners Group in Omie, a business management platform. Food delivery giant iFood acquired 20% of CRMBonus, a retail giftback and coupon company.

Other deals are in the pipeline and should further boost this year’s transaction volume. Superlógica, a condominium management software company controlled by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, is up for sale, Valor has learned. According to sources, other large companies in the sector are also expected to launch deals soon. Contacted, Superlógica did not respond to requests for comment.

After a slow period for the sector, company valuations in these deals have also risen again. RGS data shows that multiples paid reached 6x, considering enterprise value to revenue, versus 4x in 2024 and 4.5x in 2023. For comparison, in 2021 the average multiple was 11.3x. A clear example of this discrepancy was the sale of Linx: when Stone bought the company in 2020, it paid R$ 6.7 billion and resold it this year for about R$ 3 billion.

A study by M&A boutique Fortezza shows that in software, metrics are very positive, which may help explain demand in large transactions in the segment. In this niche, revenue grew an average of 15.6%, compared to 13.1% in IT services and 5.6% in telecom, for example.

According to sources consulted by Valor, some transactions in the sector are being launched because some entrepreneurs do not want to go through another fundraising round, especially amid expectations that achieving significant growth will be more difficult in a more hostile macroeconomic environment. Another source of pressure is funds themselves, seeking to return capital to their investors.

“We are seeing the market heat up again this year. It was very hot between 2020 and 2021. Then we saw a major hangover in 2023 and 2024. Now, we have a good recovery,” says Fábio Jamra, partner at RGS boutique. According to the executive, fundraising by funds has resumed, but investors remain selective.

The year’s standout deal was Visma’s investment in Brazil, for nearly R$ 2 billion. In the market, the perception was that other players began to eye opportunities in the country following the Norwegian company’s move.

“We are very optimistic about the technology sector in Brazil. In the private market, we have seen demand from both high-profile growth equity funds and dedicated global strategics seeking the best assets in Brazil. This was evident in several deals we recently conducted, including the sale of Conta Azul to Visma, and General Atlantic’s private investment in Starian,” says Pedro Pereira, head of technology for Latin America at Bank of America in Brazil.

According to the BofA executive, interest in assets has come not only from financial investors — also reflected in the performance of listed companies in the sector, which have outperformed the Ibovespa — but also from strategics.

He points out that the M&A route for these companies has reopened and many were able to survive the sector’s “winter” by adjusting course, cutting costs, and proving resilient. Pereira also says that the IPO market in the United States is open, but there is still a size requirement for deals. This means many technology companies will need to grow before seeking a public offering.

Isaias Sznifer, partner at Seneca Evercore, notes that the technology sector has always played a significant role in the industry in terms of number of transactions, but that recently larger deals have been observed.

Daniel Gildin, founding partner of Fortezza Partners, points out that while major deals in the sector have drawn attention, the same has not been seen in the overall number of transactions, which have been declining. “Very small companies are struggling to get deals done,” he says. The executive adds that some deals may be expedited to close before year-end, given the perception that it may be better to avoid election years.

Published on 09/30/2025 and available at: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2025/09/30/m-as-de-tecnologia-movimentam-r-167-bi-ate-julho.ghtml.