Sage buys into Brics with Brazil deal

Sage, the accountancy software group, made its first foray into the world's fast-growing Bric nations yesterday with a £125m deal to buy a Brazilian rival.

For the money it will receive 75 per cent of Folhamatic Group, which makes accounting, tax and payroll software for small businesses. Folhamatic's founder and chief executive, Mauricio Frizzarin, is retaining the remaining stake in the business and will continue to run it, Sage said.

The British company pointed out that some 90 per cent of the six million small and medium-sized companies in Brazil do not yet use any business software, a statistic it hopes to change.