Sage turns over a new leaf in Brazil with Folhamatic

Sage has significantly boosted its presence in Brazil with the acquisition of a controlling share in one of the country’s leading accounting software firms, Folhamatic (OK, I’m showing off here, but ‘folha’ in Portuguese means ‘leaf’!). Sage will pay (performance linked) £125m for a 75% stake in Folhamatic, equivalent to an enterprise value of £191m. Folhamatic turned over £42m last year with an EBITA of £6.5m. Options are in place to acquire the remaining 25% from founding CEO, Mauricio Frizzarin. US-based private equity firm, Insight Venture Partners, is a major shareholder.

This is Sage back to doing what Sage does best – buying a leading accounting software player in a strategic territory – and about time too! Sage entered the Brazilian market in September 2007 through the acquisition of Paris-based cash management software firm, XRT. But the acquisition of Folhamatic puts Sage firmly on the map in Latin America’s largest economy. And what a great time to buy in Brazil too – the real has lost more than 20% of its value against sterling over the past year.

Let’s hope this is an indicator that Sage is finally getting its mojo back!