Independent M&A boutique for Brazil's middle market: sell-side, capital raising, succession and acquisitions.
São Paulo concentrates half of Brazilian M&A. We sit close enough to capital markets — and far enough to stay aligned with the founder who actually runs the business.
We provide the local execution layer for foreign funds, family offices, and corporates pursuing acquisitions in Brazil. The mandate typically combines deal sourcing, cultural and financial diligence, founder-side negotiation, and on-the-ground execution through closing.
Deal sourcing — beyond the auction lists. We map, qualify and approach proprietary targets across Brazil's interior. Most of our buy-side mandates close on assets that were never marketed through formal processes — companies the founder was open to discussing, but not to listing.
Sector and thesis-driven mapping; direct outreach to controlling shareholders; structured pre-engagement work to test fit before a process is opened.
Cultural diligence, in addition to financial. Brazilian family-owned companies operate on relational architecture that does not surface in a Quality of Earnings report. Governance gaps, succession dynamics, supplier and labour relationships — these often determine whether a transaction closes and, more importantly, whether the business performs post-close.
We work alongside Big Four diligence and international counsel to add the layer that imported playbooks miss.
Founder-side negotiation and local closing. Negotiating with a Brazilian founder is not negotiating with a fund. The structure of the deal — earn-outs, rollover equity, governance, family-member roles post-close — must reflect both the financial logic and a workable transition.
We translate, structurally and culturally, between the international investor's framework and the Brazilian shareholder's reality. Through closing, transition and the first board meetings.
The right read starts with a reserved conversation — no commitment, no exposure.
Talk about your company →Editorial and intelligence platform operated by Fairplay. Tracks the live flow of completed M&A in Brazil and reads the Brazilian market against the global one.
On top of that base, we turn data into competitive edge — investors and multiples for the founder; and, on demand within buy-side mandates, target companies for the investor.
Senior execution on every mandate — no pyramids, no outsourcing. Our partners bring track records from leading investment banks, financial consultancies, and finance leadership roles. Our board brings a solid operating track record at multinationals and industry leaders, providing strategic insight grounded in operational reality.
10+ years in M&A, leading transactions across multiple sectors — predominantly sell-side mandates. Built the M&A practice at WTC-SP. Associate at BR Advice and partner in charge of the M&A operation at Hand. Founder of Fairplay Capital and Fairmind — an M&A-focused data platform — serving as managing partner of both.
25 years in valuation, with stints at Bank of America, Nomura Securities, WestMerchant Bank and WestLB, plus the financial consultancies Corp, LCA and Hand — where he was a founding partner and led the build-out of the Shared Management and M&A practices. BBA from FEA-USP and MSc in Management from EA-UFRGS. Former lecturer in Finance at FACAMP and at FIA Business School's graduate programme.
German national based in Brazil for 18 years, with 40 years of global experience in agribusiness. Former Country Manager at Bayer in Portugal and Brazil, Executive Director at Helm and CEO at AMVAC Brazil. Currently Vice-President at Caraíba Genética.
Career across family-owned businesses, multinationals, SMEs, startups and the third sector. Former CEO of WTC-SP. Currently founder and CEO of Imventures, board member at Sicoob Credivar and Banana Brasil, founder of CESUL (Sul de Minas Business Council) and International Head at Sagewood US Corporation.
30 years in industrial operations management and corporate governance. Former CEO and Chairman of Embraer Portugal and CEO of Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry (China). Currently senior managing partner at CELINT and Chairman of GAMT, focused on advisory board structuring.
35 years in technology, with a C-level executive track record focused on digital transformation, data and artificial intelligence. Leadership roles at Lavoro, Via Varejo, DIA, GPA, LATAM and Saraiva, leading restructurings, mergers and IPOs.
More than 30 years in the global technology market, with a leadership career at Oracle and Microsoft, where he served as IT Director for Latin America and Director of Customer Services & Support. Currently a board advisor, investor and partner in technology companies and startups.
Featured deal, partners' trajectory and press coverage.
2025 · Sell-side — Equipment rental
We acted as exclusive advisors to Termov on its sale to Armac. The transaction marks the expansion of Armac's national leadership into Minas Gerais, consolidating its presence in a highly competitive market through the acquisition of the state's leading player.
Deals with partner involvement, at other firms.
2025 · Sell-side — Agri · retail
Coverage: AgFeed
2025 · Sell-side — Automotive
Coverage: Blog do Pco
2024 · Sell-side — Industrial · cross-border
Coverage: Estadão
2022 · Sell-side — Consumer goods
Three sequential transactions: 2020, Aqua Capital · majority investment; 2021, Puravida acquires Tradal · B2B expansion; 2022, Full sale to Nestlé.
2022 · Sell-side — Equipment rental
Coverage: Valor
2021 · Sell-side — Healthcare
Coverage: Valor
2019 · Sell-side — Fashion
Coverage: Vogue
2019 · Sell-side — Healthcare · dialysis
Coverage: LexLatin
Appearances and theses published by the partners in financial and agribusiness press — at previous firms.
Every deal above began with a discreet conversation.
Start yours →It's what to do once it has worked.
Once the wealth is built and the company consolidated, the dilemma is no longer growth — it's what to do with what's been built: bring in a partner, plan the exit, raise for the next phase. What's at stake is not only money: it's identity, time, family, energy.
Fairplay was built in Sorocaba to advise this decision alongside Brazilian middle-market founders — in Caxias do Sul, Maringá, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, anywhere a substantial business has been built over decades. We understand the company from the inside, anticipate issues, and negotiate with conviction.
Technical DNA of São Paulo. Entrepreneurial drive of the interior.
We don't compete on volume. We compete on trust: the right transaction, at the right moment, with the right investor. When a deal doesn't make sense, we say so before the mandate is signed.
