MILS3

Mills Locação, Serviços e Logística S.A., traded on B3 under the ticker MILS3, is a Brazilian company founded in 1952 by the Nacht family as a scaffolding and shoring company focused on the construction sector. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the company grew in step with the expansion of the construction and industrial sectors in Brazil, taking part in large-scale projects such as the Rio-Niterói Bridge, the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant and the first Brazilian offshore oil platform. During this period, it established partnerships with international groups such as UK-based GKN and Canada’s Aluma Systems, incorporating technologies for metal formwork and shoring and consolidating its role in temporary access and support solutions for infrastructure and building projects. From the 1990s onward, Mills broadened its scope with new licensing agreements and, in 1997, entered the powered access and telehandler rental segment through a joint venture with U.S.-based JLG Industries, the seed of what would become the Rental business unit.

In the 2000s, the company went through a capital strengthening process and portfolio reorganization. In 2007, it received investments from private equity funds and allocated resources to expanding its rental equipment fleet. In 2008, it resumed organic rental of powered access equipment with the creation of the Rental unit and discontinued its events business, focusing on segments where it saw greater value-creation potential. In the same year, it acquired Jahu Indústria e Comércio Ltda., structuring the Buildings unit for engineering services applied to residential and commercial construction, complementing its heavy construction operations. In 2010, it carried out its initial public offering on B3, increasing its free float and enabling a growth plan based on geographic expansion and fleet growth. From 2013 onward, it discontinued the Industrial Services segment, concentrating on equipment rental and formwork and shoring solutions.

A key milestone in Mills’ recent history was the business combination with Solaris Participações, Equipamentos e Serviços S.A., approved in 2019, which unified two major Brazilian operators in the aerial work platform and equipment rental market. The merger brought together a fleet of approximately 9,000 pieces of equipment and a base of thousands of active clients across multiple sectors, expanding geographic reach, product mix and service capacity. With this transaction, the company strengthened its position in the aerial work platform and yellow line rental market, as well as bolstering its intralogistics operations. The ownership structure kept the Nacht Group as the controlling shareholder, while other financial investors and international partners became significant, but non-controlling, shareholders. Over the course of the 2010s, the company also faced the 2014 economic crisis, which reduced demand and fleet utilization rates, triggering a turnaround process between 2015 and 2018, involving downsizing of the Formwork and Shoring unit, sector diversification in Rental and adjustments to the equipment mix.

Mills’ business model is based mainly on the rental and sale of equipment and engineering solutions, focused on aerial work platforms, heavy yellow line machinery, forklifts, pallet trucks, compressors, generators, light towers, as well as formwork, shoring and access systems for construction and infrastructure. The company operates through two business units: Rental (Light, Heavy and Intralogistics) and Formwork and Shoring. In 2024, the Rental unit accounted for approximately 84.6% of net revenue, highlighting the predominance of equipment rental and intralogistics solutions in the company’s economic profile, while Formwork and Shoring represented 15.4% of revenue, focusing on temporary systems for concrete pouring, structural support and access on jobsites. The offering includes not only rental over different terms, but also the sale of new and used machines, technical assistance, preventive and corrective maintenance and operator training.

The Rental unit structures its operations along three lines: light equipment (mainly aerial work platforms and accessories), heavy yellow line equipment and intralogistics solutions such as forklifts and pallet trucks. Aerial work platform rental contracts are usually signed on 28-day bases, with an average duration of around eight months, and can extend to 12 months or more, while yellow line contracts tend to be long term, with an average duration of around three years. In intralogistics, contracts are also long term, with typical terms of four years. In the Formwork and Shoring unit, the company offers engineering design, supply of reusable concrete formwork, metal shoring, access systems such as scaffolding, rack-and-pinion hoists and special solutions for bridges, overpasses, tunnels and conduits. Production of formwork, shoring and access equipment is outsourced, while Mills is responsible for technology development, application engineering, quality management and maintenance, as well as operation of its rental and resale fleet.

In terms of end markets, Mills operates in a diversified manner, with a presence in infrastructure, construction, industry, agribusiness, services, retail, logistics, transportation, mining and other segments of the economy. The company noted that no client accounted for more than 10% of net revenue in 2024, indicating a fragmented customer base and reduced dependence on individual contracts. In the aerial work platform market, Mills benefits from decades of experience in working-at-height access solutions and operates in a segment that is still maturing in Brazil, with relatively low penetration compared with developed markets. In heavy yellow line machinery, the company seeks to expand adoption of the rental model in a market traditionally more focused on equipment ownership by end users, while in forklifts and intralogistics it tracks a global trend of increased rental use and fleet electrification.

Mills has broad geographic coverage within Brazil. As of the end of 2024, the Rental business unit had 60 operating branches across several states, including Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe and the Federal District. The Formwork and Shoring unit had five operating branches in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and the Federal District. This footprint allows it to serve construction projects and industrial operations in different regions of the country, combining proximity to clients with agility in equipment deployment. The company also resells used equipment, both in the domestic market and abroad, as a way to wind down the economic life cycle of its fleet and finance renewal of rental assets.

From a regulatory standpoint, Mills is not subject to any specific sector regulation beyond the obligations common to corporations and the rules applicable to occupational safety, technical standards for equipment and environmental regulations. The company states that it adopts environmental practices aimed at mitigating risks associated with equipment maintenance, especially in processes involving painting, use of lubricating oils, greases and machine washing. For industrial waste treatment, it uses licensed companies, sends used oil for reprocessing and recycles metal components such as steel and aluminum, sending them to steel mills and recycling plants. It also invests in water/oil separation systems and water treatment plants at some branches to facilitate reuse. A significant portion of its formwork and shoring solutions replace the use of wood in construction, and part of the rental fleet is electric, helping reduce environmental impacts. In 2024, Mills was certified as a B Corporation, becoming one of the first equipment rental companies in Brazil and the first publicly listed company in the sector globally to obtain this certification, which reinforces its commitment to environmental, social and governance criteria in running its business.

As a publicly traded company with common shares MILS3 listed on B3, Mills operates under corporate governance practices consistent with the Brazilian capital markets, with a board of directors, a defined controlling shareholder and participation by institutional investors. Its recent strategy combines expansion of its rental fleet and geographic footprint, diversification of the sectors it serves, scale gains in purchasing equipment and parts, and strengthening of maintenance and training processes, supporting its positioning as one of the leading national players in rental of aerial work platforms, heavy machinery, intralogistics solutions and formwork and shoring systems for construction and infrastructure.