Silver Lake Takes Stake in Brazil’s Locaweb

Private a equity firm Silver Lake has bought a minority stake in Brazil’s largest provider of hosting and cloud computing services, the companies said today. Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle-market investment fund within Silver Lake, made the investment in  Locaweb Servicos de Internet S.A.

The investment expands on the firm’s recent focus on the data center and hosting sector. Silver Lake is also backing Vantage Data Centers, which is building a data center campus in Silicon Valley.  

Leader in Hosting .br Sites
Locaweb provides web hosting, data center outsourcing, and cloud computing. The company ranks first in Brazilian web hosting with 23.5 percent of all .br websites.

“We are impressed with Locaweb’s success over the last 12 years and look forward to working with management to drive continued innovation and best-in-class product and service offerings,” said Kyle Ryland, Managing Director of Silver Lake Sumeru, who will join Locaweb’s board of directors.

“With robust growth in the Brazilian economy and the nation’s strong investments in broadband development, we are optimistic about Locaweb’s future and believe that the company is well-positioned to continue to develop as a technology leader in Latin America,” Ryland added.

Growing Focus on Latin America
The investment in Locaweb is Silver Lake Sumeru’s first investment in Latin America, which is a growing focus for the firm.

“Locaweb represents Silver Lake’s first investment in Brazil’s dynamic technology industry,” said Dave Roux, Chairman and Co-Founder of Silver Lake. “We look forward to partnering with Locaweb management and will continue to seek out investment opportunities in leading global technology companies in Brazil and in emerging markets around the world.”

“We are delighted to welcome Silver Lake Sumeru as our investor and partner and see this as a strong vote of confidence in both our business model and in Latin America’s technology industry,” said Gilberto Mautner, Locaweb’s founder and CEO. “Locaweb looks forward to leveraging Silver Lake’s deep technology expertise and strategic insight as we continue to innovate and grow.”