Semapa looks to buy 10 ‘green’ companies by 2028

Semapa, one of Portugal’s largest holdings that operates in areas such as paper production, cement, building materials and even venture capital, plans to acquire a portfolio of green and sustainable companies over the next 5 years.

The holding company today has six companies in its portfolio: Navigator (paper production), Secil (cement), ETSA (animal by-products), UTIS (combustion optimisation), Semapa Next (Venture Capital) and Triangle’s. (Cycling equipment)

In an interview with Negócios, CEO Ricardo Pires says that his ambition is to grow its portfolio to up to 10 companies in areas such as industry and services that will enable the company to grow but also create value, and have a positive and responsible impact on the environment. This means that while acquisitions will be linked to sustainability or energy transition, the brief is that they must have growth potential.

Areas that the company is looking at include new packaging materials, renewables, next generation fuels like green hydrogen, and even carbon sequestration technology.

“The focus is in Portugal, but we want to launch our first internationalisation experience by 2027 since our aim is to acquire companies that export 75% of their products and services,” he told the newspaper.

Semapa’s profits for 2022 grew 55% to €307.1 million, the group’s consolidated business turnover was €1.1Bn while its EBITDA grew 75% to €894.2 million.