Stone, a provider of financial technology solutions, has agreed to merge its business with Brazilian retail management software provider Linx, in a stock and cash deal valued at BRL6.04bn ($1.12 bn).
Under the terms of the transaction, a new software business unit will be established within STNE, a software investments business subsidiary of Stone, after the merger of shares. The new is planned to be managed by Stone´s leadership and Linx management team.
Also, an advisory board is expected to be formed, with Linx CEO Alberto Menache as Chairman, to guide and monitor the priorities, integration process and capturing synergies.
Stone CEO Thiago Piau said: “Stone was born 8 years ago with a purpose that continues to guide our actions every single day: to help merchants to thrive through the offering of best-in-class service and products delivered by an amazing and talented team of hard-working people who always put our clients at the center of everything they do.
“We are excited to join efforts with Linx in this journey and are looking forward to combining Linx’s deep expertise in vertical software and omnichannel solutions with Stone’s powerful technology and financial services capabilities, our strong client-centric culture and powerful distribution channels.
Linx is engaged in developing and providing integrated software solutions for more than 70,000 retail clients through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model, and has around 300bn reais ($55.7bn) gross transaction volume (GTV).
The company serves its clients through its platform that includes three product lines, dubbed Linx Core, Linx Digital, Linx Pay Hub.
Linx CEO Alberto Menache said: “After a long and well-succeeded 35-year journey, we have decided to join efforts with Stone to create an even more robust end-to-end platform that will enable us to make the purchase experience even more passionate.
“The mission, vision and values of Linx and Stone are a winning combination that will benefit all stakeholders: clients, collaborators and shareholders of both companies.”
The merger to complement software offerings of Stone
Stone offers payments and financial services for SMBs and digital payments solutions for online merchants, marketplaces, wallets and sub acquirers, through its Pagar.me and Mundipagg platforms.
Stone said that the transaction will complement and strengthen its software offerings by combining STNE and Linx’ technology capabilities to create a full omnichannel commerce platform.
The execution of the transaction is subject to the Stone’s registration of statement to issue its class A common shares to Linx shareholders, along with the Brazilian antitrust authority (CADE) approval.
Piau added: “I believe this will help us to become the one stop shop for merchants of all sizes, supporting them in the online as well as in the offline world. We will continue to focus on building solutions by applying best practices in technology, with constant client feedback and the use of data to drive product improvement roadmaps.”
