Vinci buys stake in IT’s Arklok; is the primary verify from the brand new fund

The company is one of the largest in the country in computer equipment leasing and the first private equity investment in the segment

The manager Vinci Partners has just closed the first contribution of its fourth private equity fund. The vehicle bought a relevant stake in Arklok, which leases IT equipment to other companies and provides systems update and security services.

The slice and the cipher were not revealed. The acquisition takes place less than six months after the first closing of Vinci Capital Partners IV. Still in funding, the fund should have a volume similar to the previous one, of US$ 1 billion (about R$ 5.4 billion at the current exchange rate). The checks are between BRL 300 million and BRL 500 million, which gives a dimension of the transaction with Arklok.

It is the manager’s first investment in a company in the IT segment, an area that the firm has been evaluating for some time, and it is also the first da Vinci investment by an entrepreneur. Arklok was founded in 2008 by Andrea Rivetti, a lawyer who decided shortly after graduation that her vocation was to be an entrepreneur – and not in law.

“It was a relief to pass the OAB test after graduating because that was the end of my mission. When we are younger, we have the courage of the innocent and I didn’t have big financial plans or know about this outsourcing market, but I knew I wanted to undertake it”, says the founder and CEO of Arklok.

The high cost of acquiring and maintaining corporate equipment and the often inefficient purchase of the type of product needed and in what quantity have placed Arklok in the position of a cost planner for companies. “It was necessary to show the CIO and CFO that outsourcing reduced costs and helped with the final balance sheet”, says the businesswoman, about how she gained market share.

The cost cut already starts with the tax benefit – the Income Tax rebate and PIS/Cofins credit that the rent makes possible, but the purchase and leasing does not –, as well as the reduction of manpower in this management and technological updating, details the CEO.

Arklok grew at an average rate of 57% over the last five years and enters 2023 with a backlog of BRL 1 billion in closed contracts. There are 900 corporate customers and 200,000 items currently allocated to these companies, including notebooks, desktops, printers and smartphones.

Future expansion may even include some M&A, but Arklok identifies that the biggest opportunity today is in organic growth – not only in the customer base but also in expanding the portfolio itself. Outsourcing normally starts with a specific demand, a new branch, for example, and then expands to the entire park in long-term contracts. The demand also includes reverse logistics, since there are specific rules for equipment disposal (there are companies that keep old PCs in sheds, for example, an extra property cost).

“Andrea did something incredible on her own and in a very short time, in a market that is still very male. Let’s join forces, with her remaining CEO of Arklok”, says Carlos Eduardo Martins, co-head of private equity at Vinci. “Our partnership is to further accelerate the growth that the company has had in recent years.”

Arklok delivers from access control to systems to servers, computers and software as a service. “Outsourcing was not common around here for cultural reasons. I think that businesses like Uber helped a lot in this transformation, you get in the car and you know how much it will cost to go to your destination”, compares Andrea. “You don’t need to pay the IPVA, gasoline, parking, maintenance bills. It’s the same with equipment allocation.”

In private equity, Vinci has already invested in 25 companies. The manager also operates in real estate, infrastructure, shares, special situations and hedge funds.

Source: Pipeline Valor