- Paulo Passoni from SoftBank will be appointed as a board member of Afya within the next 30 days;
- The company intends to use the proceeds to fund future acquisitions and investments in complementary businesses, products or technologies.
Brazilian Nasdaq-listed medical education group Afya announced on Tuesday that the SoftBank Latin America Fund has agreed to purchase BRL 822 million ($150 million), of Afya’s Series A perpetual convertible preferred shares set forth on the Certificate of Designations, subject to customary closing conditions.
In addition, Crescera Educacional II Fundo de Investimento em Participações Multiestratégia and the Esteves Family have agreed to sell 2,270,208 Class A common shares to SoftBank. In connection with such sale, Paulo Passoni from SoftBank will be appointed as a board member of Afya within the next 30 days.
READ ALSO: Brazilian Nasdaq-listed Afya acquires SoftBank-funded iClinic for BRL 182.7 million
SoftBank and its affiliates will beneficially own approximately 8.4% of the total shares of the company (on an as-converted basis for the Series A perpetual convertible preferred shares).
“We are excited to welcome SoftBank’s investment, which will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth and reinforce our digital health strategy,” said Virgilio Gibbon, CEO of Afya, in a press statement. “This investment will assist us in our mission to become the reference partner of physicians through their journey, either through rewarding lifelong learning experiences or digital tools that support their daily practices.”
The company intends to use the proceeds to fund future acquisitions and investments in complementary businesses, products or technologies.
In 2020, SoftBank had already made an investment in a SaaS model physician-focused technology company iClinic, a provider of medical practice management software in Brazil, now owned by Afya.
“Medical education and healthcare digital services in Brazil are experiencing tremendous growth, and Afya is well-positioned for continued leadership,” said Paulo Passoni, Managing Partner at the SoftBank Latin America Fund, in a press release. “We have been impressed with Afya’s footprint in this sector and are thrilled to partner with them through this high growth and transformative period in medical education and health digital services in Brazil.”
Felipe Rodrigues Affonso, director at SoftBank Group International, told LABS that the fund is very excited to be part of Afya’s journey and to continue the mission that was started with iClinic to change the health sector in Brazil. “[The Brazilian health sector] is huge and still has great pains that have not yet been addressed. Afya has the potential to multiply in size if we consider the business opportunities around the physician.”
BofA Securities acted as Capital Markets Advisor to Afya on the transaction.
