TOTVS S.A

What it is

TOTVS sells the unglamorous software that keeps a company running — accounting, payroll, inventory, the order book. It develops management software and platforms for Brazil and abroad, serving manufacturing, agribusiness, retail, healthcare, logistics, education and other industries.

The flagship product is an ERP system — one program that ties all of a company’s records together in real time. TOTVS was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in São Paulo.

Who owns it

This is a public company with no single controlling owner, which is unusual for Brazil. About 89% of its capital is free-float — shares anyone can buy — split roughly 13% Brazilian investors and 87% foreign investors.

Most of those shares sit with big professional funds: institutions hold about 83% and company insiders about 9% (EODHD data). The founder, Laércio Cosentino, keeps a personal stake through holding companies and chairs the board.

Who runs it

The chief executive is Dennis Herszkowicz. Before joining TOTVS he was chief financial officer at the software firm Linx, where he led its 2013 stock-market listing and 20 acquisitions.

The finance chief is Gilsomar Maia Sebastião. A 2000 accounting graduate, he serves as vice-president of administration and finance and investor relations director, having earlier run the company’s mergers and corporate finance teams.

The board is chaired by founder Laércio José de Lucena Cosentino.

The money, in plain words

Sales keep climbing. TOTVS earns most of its money from ERP software that companies pay for year after year — revenue rose from R$5.22bn (US$1.01bn) in 2024 to R$5.77bn (US$1.12bn) in 2025, growth of about 10% (our calculation).

It keeps roughly 15 cents of profit from every real of sales — a net margin of 15.5% (our calculation), healthy for a software firm. For every real owners put in, it earns about 17 back a year — a return on equity of 16.9%, strong.

The balance sheet is solid but not debt-free. Cash of R$1.79bn (US$347m) against debt of R$2.05bn (US$398m) leaves it modestly in net debt of about R$267m (US$52m, our calculation) — comfortable for a business this profitable.

What it is doing now

TOTVS is buying its way bigger. Its most recent major deal was the July 2025 acquisition of Linx, a cloud software provider for retailers, for about R$3.05bn (US$592m).

To fund it, the company raised R$3bn (US$582m) in bonds stretching repayment to 2033, keeping cash free for integration. It is also pushing into artificial intelligence and a fintech arm built with Itaú that lends to its software customers.

What to watch

• Whether the costly Linx deal delivers the promised savings without squeezing profit margins.
• The rising debt load as TOTVS keeps buying rivals — net debt is small today but growing.
• The next earnings update: fourth-quarter 2025 results were due 10 February 2026.

This is news, not investment advice.