RENT4 Localiza

Localiza Rent a Car S.A., which began using the corporate brand Localiza&CO, was founded in 1973 in Belo Horizonte (MG) as a limited liability company by Salim Mattar, Eugênio Mattar, Antônio Cláudio Resende and Flávio Resende. The company started operations with a small fleet of six used, financed VW Beetles and, over the following decades, built a trajectory of organic growth and acquisitions in the Brazilian car rental market. Still in the 1970s and 1980s, the company expanded geographically to several Brazilian capitals, with a strategy that prioritized the Northeast before consolidating its presence in São Paulo. In 1981, it became the market leader in number of branches in the Brazilian car rental segment. From the 1990s onward, it diversified its activities by creating the used car sales operation and the fleet management division, while also accessing the international capital markets through debt issuance.

Localiza’s IPO on B3 took place in 2005, with listing on the Novo Mercado segment and the exit of foreign fund DLJ Merchant Banking from the controlling block. The shares began trading under the ticker RENT3 and, later on, units represented by the code RENT4 were also created. In 2006, there was a follow-on equity offering, and in 2012 the company’s shares were included in the Ibovespa and IBrX-50 indices, in addition to the launch of a Level I ADR program in the United States. The recent trajectory includes relevant acquisitions, such as the purchase of Hertz’s Brazilian operations in 2017, the strengthening of the digital transformation agenda starting in 2014 and the business combination with Companhia de Locação das Américas (Locamerica/Unidas), whose share incorporation was concluded in 2022 after CADE’s approval and the execution of an asset carve-out required as an antitrust remedy.

Localiza&CO’s business model is based on an integrated mobility platform structured into two operating divisions: Car Rental (RAC) and Fleet Management. Both divisions use the same asset base – the light-vehicle fleet – and share corporate support areas, which allows it to capture economies of scale, operational synergies and dilution of fixed costs. The company purchases vehicles in large volumes from automakers, allocates these assets among short- and medium-term rentals, corporate fleet contracts and, at the end of their usage cycle, decommissions the cars and sells them through a proprietary network of used car stores. This resale operation feeds back into the capital cycle, contributing to fleet renewal and to the management of vehicle residual value, a central aspect of the business’s profitability.

The Car Rental Division is Localiza’s main revenue generator, accounting for 59.1% of consolidated net revenue in 2024 when combining operations in Brazil and Mexico. This segment covers short- and medium-term rentals for individuals and companies, with daily, weekly and monthly plans, as well as specific segments such as replacement, in which vehicles are made available as courtesy cars to insurance and automaker clients. The company also rents cars to ride-hailing drivers through Localiza Zarp, which combines a dedicated service structure and intensive use of technology, telematics and integration with mobility platforms to mitigate default, theft, robbery and fraud. The service network is made up of company-owned and franchised branches, supported by a franchising area that standardizes operations, transfers know-how and manages the Localiza brand in the markets where it operates.

The Fleet Management Division focuses on long-term vehicle rental contracts for companies, with an emphasis on outsourcing corporate fleets. This operation accounts for 40.9% of consolidated net revenue in 2024 and differs from traditional car rental by involving longer terms, customized service packages, scheduled maintenance and telematics solutions for usage control and safety. The acquisition of Mobi7 in 2020 strengthened this technology front, enabling Localiza to expand its offering of monitoring, tracking, driving data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) applied to asset management. The company reports having more than 500,000 connected vehicles, which feeds a significant data base for decision-making, dynamic pricing, maintenance and mitigation of operational and credit risks.

A central element of Localiza’s platform is the Used Cars operation, responsible for selling decommissioned vehicles from the Car Rental and Fleet Management divisions. On December 31, 2024, the company had 242 used car points of sale in 118 Brazilian cities, through which it sells mainly to end consumers and resellers. These locations are spread across all regions of the country, allowing for high capillarity in asset disposal. In 2024, the sale of decommissioned vehicles generated significant net revenue, supporting the strategy of rejuvenating the fleet and managing invested capital. The business’s economic cycle closes with the sale of the vehicle, whose cash proceeds contribute both to debt amortization and to new acquisitions, in a sector that is known to be capital-intensive and sensitive to the pricing dynamics of new and used vehicles.

From a market and geographic presence standpoint, Localiza&CO is one of the largest car rental companies in Latin America and claims to hold the leadership position in Brazil in number of branches, fleet size and gross revenue. On December 31, 2024, the company, its subsidiaries and franchisees had 706 car rental branches, of which 614 were in Brazil, 18 in Mexico and 74 in another five South American countries. The fleet totaled 683,498 vehicles, of which 669,362 were owned and 14,136 belonged to franchisees. Entry into Mexico in 2023 marked an expansion of its international footprint, targeting a market with relatively low car rental penetration, presence in major airports and potential linked both to tourism and domestic demand. The client base is highly diversified, with no significant concentration in a single customer, which reduces dependence on specific large accounts.

Localiza’s relationship with the public sector is mainly linked to urban aspects, real estate use and operations in airports, with no sector-specific concession regime as seen in utilities. The vehicle rental activity requires obtaining a CNPJ (corporate taxpayer number), operating permits and a Fire Department Inspection Certificate (Auto de Vistoria do Corpo de Bombeiros), in addition to prior analysis of the technical, legal and environmental viability of commercial sites through internal studies (EVTLA). In airports, operations depend on concession or usage grant contracts for areas with INFRAERO and other airport authorities. Although its core activity is not subject to specific environmental licensing, the company is subject to reverse logistics and proper waste disposal obligations, especially used lubricating oil from fleet maintenance, and may be held liable for environmental damage caused by contracted third parties, which requires compliance monitoring.

In the environmental, social and governance field, Localiza&CO adopts initiatives aligned with international standards, such as adhering to the UN Global Compact since 2017, with commitments in human rights, labor relations, environment and anti-corruption. The company has been part of B3’s Carbon Efficient Index (ICO2) since 2020, reflecting a level of transparency and greenhouse gas emissions management recognized by the market. In 2024, based on 2023 data, it obtained a gold seal in the GHG Protocol for its emissions inventory and received an ESG risk rating of 10.4 from Sustainalytics, categorized as “low risk” and placing it among the best-rated companies in the transportation sector. In parallel, it conducts a digital transformation agenda structured under Localiza Labs, with an emphasis on full migration of systems to the cloud, adoption of SAP S/4HANA, and development of capabilities in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data, cybersecurity and IoT, reinforcing the view of technology as an operational and data governance cornerstone, including compliance with the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The company’s shares continue to trade on B3 under the tickers RENT3 and RENT4, and are included in key Brazilian capital market indices.