The Company was founded in April 2010 by the founding partners Armando Marchesan Neto (current CEO of Sequoia) and Décio Honorato Alves to make it a major player in the Brazilian logistics and transportation market.
In 2012, Sequoia raised funds to finance its growth, receiving a financial contribution from BR Partners, a Brazilian investment bank that became a Company shareholder. In the same year, aiming at expanding business, the Company acquired 100% of the operations of Linx Fast Fashion Ltda., a logistics company focused on the fashion segment. With the acquisition, the Company’s operations expanded to the fashion industry, adding major customers to its portfolio.
In 2013, Sequoia acquired 80% of the logistics companies Celote Logística e Transportes Ltda. and Sete Estradas Logística Ltda., allowing the Company to consolidate as a leader in the logistics sector in the fashion and apparel segment.
In 2014, Warburg Pincus indirectly invested in the Company through the members of WP XI C FIP, a private equity fund affiliated entity managed by Warburg Pincus LLC. Warburg Pincus is a financial advisory company created more than 50 years ago that has already invested over US$86 billion in more than 930 companies in over 40 countries. The Fund’s investment allowed the acquisition of tracking, localization, and storage technology, improving the quality of services rendered and customer service, among others.
In 2015, Sequoia defined its entry in the technology logistics and payment methods segment. At the end of the year, the Company started an action plan to diversify the industries covered, adding Education, distribution of Cosmetics for direct sales, Telecom, and Banks to its portfolio. The projects implemented in the new customers allowed the Company to expand to new regions in the following years, significantly increasing its network.
In 2016, Sequoia acquired 100% of Yeplog, a logistics and technology company focused on the payment methods industry in Brazil. At the end of 2016, the shareholder BR Partners sold its equity interest in the Company’s share capital to the other shareholders.
In 2017, Sequoia opened a distribution network in the southern region of Brazil, increasing the capillarity of its operations. The year was also marked by our strong growth in the B2C delivery industry.
In early 2019, the acquisition of Texlog, a B2C delivery transportation company in the Southeast region, mainly in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, was completed. In October 2019, the Company took another major step toward the consolidation of its importance in the e-commerce delivery segment with the acquisition of Nowlog, a leading delivery company in Brazil’s northern states. Considering the acquisitions occurred in 2019 and previous years, and the organic growth of the network, the Company ended the year covering more than 2,000 municipalities.
In 2020, Sequoia consolidated its service portfolio and started operations in the LTL (less-than-truckload) segment with the acquisition of Transportadora Americana – TA. In October 2020, the Company acquired 100% of the share capital of Direcional Transporte, a transportation and logistics company focused on fractional cargo and e‐commerce, operating in the cross-docking, door-to-door, and reverse logistics models for the B2B and B2C industries. Also in October 2020, Sequoia held its initial public offering, becoming a publicly held company with shares traded on B3’s Novo Mercado segment.
In January 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Prime, a company operating in the transportation and logistics sector focusing on the e-commerce segment of large products, known as medium and heavy road transportation, operating in the cross-docking, door-to-door, and reverse logistics segment for the B2C industry in the Southeast and South regions, the Federal District, and Goiás. In April, the Company concluded the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Frenet, a freight marketplace for the B2C industry. Frenet offers integrated solutions to its customers and currently has connections with over 80 e-commerce platforms and ERPs, with 14,000 connected active sellers, and more than 60 million monthly quotes. The transaction was concluded on April 5, 2021. In May, Sequoia completed the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Plimor, a southern Brazilian company operating in the transportation and logistics industry, focusing on the transportation of light e-commerce products (volumes up to 30 kg) and LTL (less-than-truckload) to various segments, such as IT, pharmaceutical, footwear, and apparel, among others.
Reinforcing Sequoia’s commitment to continue investing and expanding its digital operation, in September 2021, the Company created a new company, controlled by Sequoia, to provide logistics services by offering pick-up and drop-off (“PUDOs”) points, and the logistics of the delivery and return services through said points (logistics reverse). The company was created in a partnership with Gigahub, which operates as a distribution network for door-to-door sales catalogs and is present in over 1,700 sales points in Brazil, mainly in the Mid-South and Northeast regions of the country. The launch of the new company, named Drops, took place in 4Q21, initially with 500 PUDOs. Drops aims to expand the number of PUDOs in the coming years, reaching approximately 3,500 PUDOs in 2023.
In November 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of 41% of Lincros, with an option to purchase control as of the third year, based on the development of the business plan and metrics for the acquisition and/or increase in capital predefined. Lincros is a leading logtech in the SaaS segment for B2B companies that helps large shippers in Brazil to be more efficient in their transport operations and has built an excellent reputation and credibility throughout its history. Its important strategic differential is the offer of a complete package of high quality solutions at competitive prices, offering services such as control tower, routing, freight optimization, real-time tracking and TMS for Shippers.
In December 2021, Warburg Pincus successfully concluded, after 7 years of investment, its cycle in Sequoia, selling all the shares held in B3.