After raising R$40 million with the issuance of agribusiness receivables certificates (CRA) at the end of 2021, Grupo Raça Agro, based in the state of Mato Grosso, wants to accelerate its expansion project in the segment of livestock inputs distribution. The company will invest the funds raised to increase its territorial presence and to more than double its number of stores by next year.
Today, the company’s structure is made up of 13 resellers, located in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, but, by March, the group will open seven more outlets, four in Mato Grosso and one in Mato Grosso do Sul, one in Goiás and one in Pará, states in which it does not yet operate.
With the investments (in the states with the biggest herds), Raça Agro expects to bring forward by three years its goal of earning R$500 million annually, initially scheduled for 2025 — in 2021, the group’s revenue was R$340 million. “Our plan is to spread the company nationwide. We want to expand throughout the Central-West region and, by 2023, also reach [the states of] Rondônia and Tocantins,” says the group´s CEO João Antônio Fagundes. The goal is to have 30 dealers by the end of next year.
The input distribution industry is still quite dispersed in Brazil, but competition has grown in recent years. With the expansion of its business, Raça Agro wants to anticipate the movement that is already taking place among resellers of agricultural inputs, a segment in which Nutrien, Lavoro (owned by Pátria Investimentos) and AgroGalaxy (controlled by Aqua Capital) have been central characters in the consolidation of the market through the purchase of small networks.
Mr. Fagundes says that the company has already been sought by a potential buyer. However, according to him, the company’s intention is not to be bought, but to become one of the main names in the marketing of products intended for livestock farmers, such as supplements, products for pastures and veterinary medicines.
“We are paying attention to other movements, alliances and acquisitions. The question is whether it makes sense to have a partner at this point. We also see no point in selling control. We still have the ability to add value, and these partnerships [such as the issuance of the CRA] show that it is possible,” he says. “And with the CRA, we’re just giving our first steps on [Brazilian exchange] B3.”
Source: Valor international