In 36 years, Gocil has become one of the largest private security companies in the country with sales of over R $ 1.2 billion and over 24,000 employees. In recent years, however, the company has become increasingly associated with the relationship between founder Washington Cinel and political figures – some even hostile – such as President Jair Bolsonaro and Sao Paulo Governor João Doria. For example, Chinel often meets with businessmen and the president at home. The company is now planning an IPO in 2022. And political risks can be in the sight of investors.

This is something that does not seem to bother the president of the company, Bruno Juan. Since December 2019, at the helm of Gocil, Juan believes that Chenille plays an important role for the company as chairman and founder, but claims that he himself has full responsibility for running the business.

“He positions himself like other businessmen and says nothing about Gochil. He protects the interests of the company, and I see no resistance from investors and investment funds, ”says Juan.

Such resistance has arisen against Havan, owned by businessman Luciano Hang (affiliated with Bolsonar), who was planning an IPO this year and is targeting a market value of over R $ 100 billion. Since this value was far from being achieved, in part due to disagreements on the part of the businessman, Havan decided not to publish the information.

But the head of Gocil says the situation is different. He says he has met with representatives of more than 30 funds in recent months and that their attention is drawn to the company’s results.

In 2020, the pandemic had a direct impact on Gocil’s results: in addition to a 3% drop in sales, the company had a 35% contract turnover, compared with a historical average of 10%. Gocil has spent nearly R $ 30 million to compensate more than 2,500 employees laid off during the pandemic.

Over the past three months, the company has managed to recover. Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), an important data for measuring cash generation, is set to grow from R $ 20 million in 2020 to R $ 60 million this year. João predicts 8% growth this year.

With more tailored accounts, Gocil wants to invest more in its technology services division, such as installing services such as alarms, access control, smart cameras and facial recognition, among other products. For João, this is the area with the greatest potential for expansion. He sees that the division will increase its dealership from its current 5% to 30% of sales in three years.

If it even reaches B3, the company will be the second in the private security sector on the stock exchange. In April this year, Grupo GPS went public and raised R $ 2.5 billion. Since then, GPS stock is up 37%. But João admits that an election year and the market’s reluctance to take risks could derail plans.

There is political risk, according to Carlos Eduardo Daltoso, director of variable income at think tank Eleven, but because Cinel does not make as much noise as Hang from Havana, the weight should be lower. “The leader is not involved in day-to-day work, as is the case with Luciano Hang, who is the central figure in Havana,” says Daltozo. “But the political risk is on the rise, just look at what happened to Petrobras and Banco do Brasil, which have the highest discount rates compared to private banks.”

Information from the newspaper State of Sao Paulo.