Brazilian technology company Locaweb (LWSA3), which has acquired 19 startups, has changed its name to Locaweb Company, marking a repositioning of its portfolio of business units, which will be organized into vertical segments.
In fiscal terms, the holding already existed. According to Luis Carlos dos Anjos, Locaweb’s executive director of marketing and channels, with the repositioning of the brand, the company intends to put its house in order by defining the verticals of each acquired company.
Locaweb launched in 1998 as a company for website hosting, but since 2012 has launched new products and began to position itself as a company providing digital solutions for businesses.
“We had the challenge to organize this portfolio a little better, to make company A integrate with company B, that brand A sells within B,” Dos Anjos said. The company did some homework and decided that some brands should join others, such as Social Miner, while others would continue to operate autonomously, and which even serve competitors of Locaweb.
“Best Shipping, for example, our brand providing logistics solutions, works very well within our Tray platform. Only it is also integrated into several other market platforms, which are competitors of Tray,” he said, referring to the e-commerce unit that opens virtual stores.
According to Dos Anjos, there is still money available for new acquisitions, with the company having a special committee focused on M&As.
He explains that Locaweb sees acquisitions as a way of being able to offer products and services more quickly, and to add new people to the team.
Share Volatility
Regarding the company’s falling share price since its IPO, Dos Anjos says that Locaweb is suffering the volatility that is affecting the entire technology market.
“In general, technology companies are heavily indebted,” Dos Anjos says. “They are companies that don’t yet turn a profit. Once the interest rate increases, these companies naturally lose value. But Locaweb is a company that has always had a very solid operation, a company that has always been profitable, we have positive EBITDA, and we have growth rates. On our side, the operation runs very well.”
