Ambipar will replicate the Response model in the US and accelerate acquisitions, says director

São Paulo, July 7 – Ambipar will replicate Response’s business model in the United States and accelerate the acquisitions agenda, after the merger between the holding’s environmental emergency arm and HPX, said financial director Thiago Silva in an interview. exclusive to Mover.

Response operates in Brazil and on a global scale, providing industrial services and responding to environmental emergencies.

The merger announced yesterday – which made Ambipar’s common share jump another 10% – guarantees Response a capitalization of US$168 million.

“Most of the resources will be destined to growth via mergers and acquisitions in the American market, which is why it is so important that the new company be listed in New York,” said Silva.

The idea is to replicate Response’s strategies in Brazil as well in the United States, as was done in Chile and Peru, taking advantage of the market dispersion to accelerate the company’s consolidation process.

For the executive, the United States represents access to a market whose chemical industry “is much stronger” and, at the same time, “does not have any company that responds to environmental emergencies in the one-stop-shop model” – where it is possible to find all services on just one platform or company.

The merger also brought some slack for Ambipar’s balance sheet, which saw the leverage measured by the Net Debt to EBITDA ratio drop from 2.8x at the end of the first quarter to 1.4x, following the announcement.

The company sees deleveraging as an opportunity to resume inorganic growth,” said Silva. Ambipar has a history of growth via acquisitions, with around 30 since going public in July 2020.

“We lead emergency services in some sectors in Brazil, such as road transport, but we intend to make acquisitions to advance in other segments”, said the executive.

Response should hit the New York Stock Exchange in September worth R$2.9 billion, more than Ambipar itself.

Asked about the moment of the American market, which had the worst performance in 52 years, Silva pointed out that the exchanges can improve until the listing date and that he is used to the challenges imposed by the Brazilian market.

At around 4:05 pm, Ambipar’s common shares (AMBP3) dropped 2.31%, quoted at 24.55. Year-to-date, the shares fell 41.30%.

Text: Arthur Horta
Editing: Allan Ravagnani
Image: Vinicius Martins / Mover
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