After almost two years, Desktop, a fiber optic broadband provider operating in the interior of São Paulo state, has found a buyer for its operations.
Mexican company Claro has just announced the purchase of Desktop for R$ 4 billion, ending the ownership of private equity firm HIG Capital, which controlled the company through Makalu Brasil Partners I.
Discounting net debt, estimated at R$1.585 billion in September 2025, the base value of the transaction reaches approximately R$2.4 billion, which implies a price of R$20.82 per share. Claro is valuing each of Desktop's 1.2 million users at approximately R$3,300.
Taking into account Desktop's closing share price on Friday, March 20, the premium is 44.6%. However, this value is 11.4% lower than the IPO price in July 2021, when the company raised R$ 715 million with shares priced at R$ 23.50.
The deal involves the purchase of 73.01% of Desktop's capital, equivalent to approximately 84.7 million common shares, through Claro NXT Telecomunicações, a subsidiary of Claro Telecom Participações. The agreement was signed with the company's current controlling shareholders, including the Makalu Brasil Partners I fund and the company's founders.
After the transaction is completed, which needs to be approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) and the National Telecommunications Agency, Claro will extend the offer to minority shareholders, taking Desktop private.
Furthermore, Desktop will have to hold a shareholders' meeting to amend its articles of association, eliminating a clause related to public offers for significant stakes, a change that will only take effect after approval from regulatory bodies.
Payment will be made in Brazilian reais and divided into two installments: a principal payment on the date the transaction is completed and a subsequent adjustment after the final determination of the net debt.
Part of the value — proportional to up to R$ 175 million — will be held in an escrow account, which will serve as collateral for any potential compensation obligations of the sellers, with gradual release over five years.
With this transaction, Claro reinforces its presence in fiber optics and in the interior of São Paulo. The company has 10.5 million broadband subscribers, of which 4.5 million are in São Paulo. With the acquisition, it will have almost 12 million broadband customers, 6 million of them in the state.
The transaction concludes a long search for a buyer. In 2023, Desktop hired Bank of America (BofA) to find a buyer for its 55,000-kilometer fiber optic network, following a model similar to that of Oi, which gave rise to V.tal.
Since the business model in that format did not prosper, the strategy changed to the complete sale of the operation. Vivo, from the Spanish group Telefónica, even engaged in exclusive negotiations, as reported exclusively by NeoFeed , but the deal did not go through due to disagreements over the price.
