Deswik continues its overseas expansion drive with Brazilian acquisition
Deswik has stepped up its overseas expansion push by taking a minority stake in its longstanding Brazilian reseller partner MCB Services and Minerals.
MCB has been Deswik’s exclusive reseller partner in Brazil since 2012. Established in 2006 in Belo Horizonte, it sells mining software and services to local customers including Nexa, Vale, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Yamana, Kinross and many others.
Deswik is expanding its presence across South America and opened offices in Chile and Peru in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Sales across the continent accounted for 27 per cent of Deswik’s turnover in 2018.
Deswik Managing Director Matt Chilcott said Brazil was a key growth market which contributed eight per cent of Deswik’s global software turnover in 2018.
Acquiring a stake in MCB would cement Deswik’s presence in the country and allow it to offer local clients enhanced technical support and greater input into the Deswik development and roadmap process, Mr Chilcott said.
“MCB is a like-minded company with an approach to servicing the mining industry that’s very similar to our own,” Mr Chilcott said.
“Our culture and values are extremely compatible. That’s why we’ve worked together so successfully for such a long time. We couldn’t find a better partner and we’re delighted to be able to formalise our relationship in this way.”
Mr Chilcott was upbeat about Deswik’s prospects in the region.
“Brazil is a large and mature market and we think we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of demand,” he said.
“We’re excited about working with the MCB team to help more customers in the region experience the productivity and efficiency gains the Deswik suite of products can deliver.”
MCB will be rebranded as Deswik Brazil.
MCB’s senior management, Mauro Servulo, Cesar Machado and Francisco Bittencourt will remain at the helm of Deswik Brazil and local customers will continue to receive expert support from the company’s 35-strong team of geology and mine engineering consultants.
“We knew from day one that this would be a very productive partnership as both companies always had the same idea to not only sell a product but also to innovate and help the customer solving their problems”
“With the help of Deswik we grew from 6 to 35 people within 6 years. We are really excited about the future, now that we have been brought to Deswik’s structure”
Deswik Partner Manager Patrick Doig said strong partnership with MCB is due to the like-minded management, long-term vision and similar company and culture has been key to Deswik’s rapid growth in Brazil over the past eight years.
In addition to its own 11 offices across Australia, North and South America, Canada, Africa and Europe, Deswik works with a select group of technology, education, reseller and certified partners.
“Fostering a healthy eco-system of partners has allowed us to extend the reach of our software internationally and provide customers with a consistent ‘Deswik experience’ wherever they are in the world,” Mr Doig said.
