Good evening. Welcome to the conference call of Fras-le Mobility on the signing of the purchase, on the signing of purchase of the aftermarket division of the KUO Group. This video conference is being recorded, and after the conclusion, it will be available on our IR website. We have simultaneous translation in progress. To access, please click on the interpretation button represented by the globe at the bottom of the screen. This video conference has, we have now Sérgio Carvalho, our chairman, CEO of Fras-le Mobility, and CEO of Randon Corp, Anderson Pontalti, our CEO, and Hemerson de Souza, director for business and M&A. Later, we will have a space for Q&A, when we will have the participation of the director, Estevão Angeletti. The questions may be made in two ways: by audio, using Raise Hand, or in writing through the button Q&A.
Before passing the floor to our executives, I have to say that the information is not a guarantee of performance. They involve risks and uncertainties. They refer to future events which may or may not occur. Now I pass the floor to Mr. Sérgio for this material fact.
Thank you, Jessica. Good evening. Thank you very much for being with us on short notice. Thank you very much for participating in this meeting. We are very happy to share with you this transaction, the acquisition of KUO Refacciones in Mexico, the largest transaction in our history of Fras-le Mobility and also in the history of Randon Corp. Extremely important transaction within a strategic plan that had been established. It is a giant market in Mexico, as we will see. We expanded our product portfolio. We replicated, we repeated what we did with Nakata.
The model will be the same as with the acquisition of Nakata, very focused on replacement. So a very important material fact for our company, following the same lines that we have communicated to you for some time. So I would like to conclude. Hemerson and Anderson will make the presentation, and then we will be available for more clarification. Thank you very much. Hemerson, Anderson, I pass the floor to you.
Good afternoon. Thank you very much for participating in this conference call. After so many years, we're here. Thank you very much for being with us in this video conference. Repeating the words of Sérgio and Anderson, we're very, very happy to talk to you of a strategic move for Fras-le Mobility, which is the purchase of KUO Refacciones, the aftermarket division of KUO Group in Mexico.
This transaction will need approvals from authorities, and the investment we're talking about, BRL 2.1 billion, will increase our billing of Fras-le by 1.4... When we look at last year's number, it'll probably per year, BRL 1.4 billion per year, and will make our name one of the strongest names in Latin America. We will be leaders in Mexico, in Argentina, and in Brazil. That's why we're so happy to announce this to you. Next chart, we talked about how we chose the name of this project. Although the Mayas were not an empire, they were very relevant, and this is what we want. We want to be robust, and we have made our strategy with robust growth in the last few years. With acquisitions, we make good choices. We're very diligent in adding value through these acquisitions.
And I remind you that when we did the follow-on in 2022, we talked a lot about the importance of growing in the Mexican market, and now, after more than two years, we're sharing with you part of the resources that, that will be used from that follow-on. Now I'd like to request that Anderson help me. We like a lot to say that apart from planning, we're good at, in execution, too.
Hemerson, this slide shows a lot about the conversation where we had the opportunity to talk to you in all these meetings during the last few years, where we had a clear vision of where we were headed, and we began to understand the importance of being a powerhouse in Latin America, especially in Brazil....
a player with a full solution, significant to the clients, distributors, with a resilient market, strong brands, generating cash in order to invest in innovation and technology, to create also value in the future of the company without compromising short-term results, but also with a vision to make deals of a relevant size, like this one that we're announcing today, outside Brazil, which is the third pillar of our long-term strategy: internationalization and also geopolitically protected billing. So everything - Revenue. So everything that is happening today is a result of discipline in building the ideas and also making the deals, and above all, the capture of synergies to continue on a positive track, today and in the future. Once again, we're very happy with this acquisition today. Thank you, Anderson.
The Maya project, next chart, comes to supplement this brilliant execution in our strategy.
We had talked about being more relevant internationally because we had acquisitions in Brazil, Nakata and Fremax. Fremax has a lot of exports. And we bring here a company that is very good for internationalization and also expands our portfolio, an important expansion in the portfolio with materials that we consider very resilient when we talk about aftermarket. Later on, we will talk more about the product line of Refacciones after the approvals from the authorities. Very well. Next chart. Here we talk about this project. Mexico is a country that has 55 million vehicles, second largest fleet in Latin America. We, Fras-le Mobility, with this project, we become leaders with a presence in Latin America and Mexico. We used to sell a little over $10 million in Mexico, which is almost nothing in comparison with the possibilities we're here.
We're bringing more prestigious brands, which are relevant for Latin America. We're reinforcing our powerhouse for aftermarket. We are now going to... Right now, we have 88%. We will have 95% in Latin America. Value-added products, also recurring demand. We have very relevant synergies that will create value for the results of Fras-le Mobility. We're using future investments also. We will grow in this region. We're opening a relevant door to access the USA and grow in this region as we are doing. As a curiosity, KUO Refacciones, more than sales in Latin America and North America, we will have 35% exposure to this market, and also many opportunities to build also sales with OEMs in the future. On the next chart, we see our thesis for the investment.
First, as already mentioned, it is very aligned with our international expansion and the creation of value for the aftermarket market. It gives us global relevance, internationalization with leadership in the Americas, also access to relevant markets and expansion of portfolio. I said Mexico is very important in terms of the automotive global context. But the fleet is very large. Nearshoring gives us opportunities, and Maya places us on the route to access the light line, light vehicles in the USA. Today, we are leaders in friction in the heavy line in the U.S., and we sell some light lines through Fremax, but it's very little. The market is giant. We can accelerate with this project. On the next chart, I repeat some points which gives us the title of a powerhouse for aftermarket.
We bring inside Fras-le Mobility the DNA of the U.S. market, with production lines that converge with ours, supplementary with absolutely strong and leading brands, like we have in Brazil, and the way we want. Also, we can add a lot of synergy and also value added, which has always happened in the acquisitions we make. We just made an acquisition a little over a year, Juratek in the U.K., and in one year we were able to capture many synergies, even Juratek being in the U.K... and even not being in Brazil, where it's easier to have more synergies. We can also, we can also work combined sourcing, as I mentioned, great opportunities to work with OEMs, and also we open the access to the product lines we have through the distribution in Mexico, which will be very, very good for brands like Nakata, Controil, and others.
On the next chart, we talk a little about this company. Here, here, you—I will give you some details. This company had an EBIT of BRL 313 million last year, so this acquisition is 7x or more, depending on the currency, 7.3x. It is the best acquisition we have made in the last few years, and also we bring the we will increase the distribution of parts that we have in Argentina and the U.K. This company had 21% EBITDA margin, and here we have adjustments, since they have some accounts that are intercompany, but checked by Deloitte for this acquisition. It's a company that is absolute leader in Mexico, with 90% of its sales in the Mexican market, but with important chances of growth in the USA and also Central America, with some brands that they have.
We're talking about a company that is 90, almost 90% light line, light vehicles, and 100% aftermarket replacement. On the next chart, we see what we're really buying. We're buying KUO Refacciones , which has an engine division and offers TF Victor and Moresa, the most important ones, and also Sello V and Vehyco, which are other relevant brands of the offers they already have. In brakes, they have Fritec, the main manufacturer for friction material, an excellent competitor of Fras-le in the last few decades, and now is part of Fras-le Mobility, and also Bio Ceramic brake pads. In distribution, we have Dacomsa, which has a model that is very similar to Nakata, with co-manufacturing processes that can be improved with the Nakata model because they are less advanced than the Nakata in Brazil. We will explore many things together.
They have many brands like Raybestos, OEA, Autopar, TSP, as I mentioned, and also Fritec and Bio Ceramic. Well, we're buying plants, two plants, pistons, and a plant in Mexico City. Many small plants, actually, of gaskets and a distribution center, which is rented. We're talking about two industrial sites, three plants, and Fritec also has its buildings that are rented. On the next chart, we see the product line. We added to our product line some products that are very relevant in terms of demand and make a lot of sense for us. Aftermarket parts for engines. Engines, although this is not a fashion line, we have today more than 90% of the vehicles in the world being with combustion engines, so we will need a lot of parts.
Moresa is a synonym of parts for engines in Mexico, the leading brand for gaskets and pistons, and bringing this additional line to Fras-le Mobility. Also, friction, such as brake pads, brake linings for light vehicles, disc brakes, and also transmissions parts here, like seals, gaskets, cross pieces, rings, and other engine parts.
Hemerson, if you allow me, I'd like to supplement your comments with some information, anticipating some questions about engine parts. This is a market that we don't know so well. We have some exposure in our business in Argentina, but we learned many interesting things. Without going into too much detail about the resilience of a market that has decades ahead of it, we understood that this is a market that has the benefit of the reputation of the brands and products. Why? Because engine maintenance is more sensitive than brakes.
If when you choose an alternative brand, you risk an asset. You can risk losing your engine and even the vehicle, depending on the value of the problem. So the brand has a tremendous reputation in Mexico. It's a market reference. We're used to talking about Bombril, so it became a brand. So Moresa is also a reference. It is so relevant, and we were impressed with the potential we have to explore this line in other countries, in other geographies, because of the, because of the competitive situation they have. The next chart, we show the sales. You will see that more than half it comes from engines, engine parts, 30% friction, and the rest, brake systems and suspension and powertrain. And where these parts are used in vehicles, 89%-90% of the parts from Refacciones are for light vehicles.
So we're growing a lot in our exposure to light vehicles. On the next chart, we show that, so this situation is very similar to the transaction with Nakata. It is certainly the largest transaction in our history. This company has no debt. We're buying equity. There is no debt. Debt-free. When we bought Nakata, Nakata represented 37% of Fras-le's revenue. In 2019, 1.3 and Nakata, BRL 500 million. Today, if we look at our guidance, BRL 3.8 billion in revenue, according to our guidance, and with KUO Refacciones, BRL 1.4, 36% of the revenue of Fras-le Mobility. Our EBITDA in 2019 was BRL 175 million. The EBITDA we brought from Nakata, 63% to 36%. Today, when we look at the BRL 313 million from KUO Refacciones, we're adding 43% to our EBITDA.
Market value of Fras-le was BRL 1.2 billion. We purchased Nakata for BRL 470 million, 40% of our market value. Today, today, it's a little different. This market value, it's BRL 4.2 billion, and now another BRL 2.1 billion, 50%, BRL 2.1 billion. So this transaction is very similar to the courage we had to do the business with Nakata, and after a few years, you can see how it was good, it was transformational, and we believe that Refacciones will have the same performance, and we will use all our energy to really reach these numbers. On the next chart, we talk about synergies.
We're estimating in a conservative way, BRL 300 million in synergies in the first five years, and this comes mainly from new product lines, launching new product lines, Fras-le Mobility in Mexico, launching Nakata, Controil, Fremax. They have no suspension, they don't have hydraulic actuators, and we can launch our products there, and it will be the main distribution arm in Mexico, so it will be very easy. We bought access and know-how; it will be very relevant to launch new products in Mexico. In terms of costs, yes, we have space to improve the plants. We are a company that is connected to the automotive market as a whole. It's a giant company. KUO Refacciones was 10%. They are very strong in, in petrochemicals, protein. They didn't have the excellence and support of an automotive vision. This is what we will bring to KUO Refacciones.
We will consolidate sourcing, manufacturing, taking our expertise with Nakata. We will consolidate sourcing for the manufacturing of friction, and we have important advantages in operation, logistics costs, too, that will be explored during the next five years. Next chart. We will bring at least three iconic brands, Fritec, Moresa, and TF Victor, and we're adding other brands that are not less important, but leaders in their segments. Sello V, TSP, Vehyco, PAI, OEA, Autopar, Bio Ceramic. Adding to our portfolio of brands, these relevant brands, becoming more and more a powerhouse of brands, and this is very relevant for our business. On the next chart, we talk about the combination of these businesses. Fras-le Mobility, almost $1 billion, as we said during our follow- on. Let's hope the exchange rate doesn't go higher. $5.3 billion, both groups....
So KUO will bring us 7,700 employees. 13 plants, and friction material, which was 89% of our revenue, we diversified, became 50, and now with KUO Refacciones, friction will represent 40%. The name, after approved, will be changed to Fras-le Mobility Mexico. This will be the new name of KUO Refacciones. We will have more iconic brands, and we hope we will do the same that we have done in terms of expansion, adding a lot of value to our shareholders and stakeholders. We hope that our market value will also be appreciated, will also increase. Finally, this will be Fras-le of the future. When we talk about profile, on the next chart, we will be a company that is 70% connected to light vehicles, 95% dedicated for aftermarket.
Very resilient, without ups and downs in relation to macroeconomy or to high credit, credit rates or exchange rate. Friction will drop to 40% from the current 48%, and international exposure will be more relevant in revenue. We will be a company with 55% of its sales outside Brazil, which makes us proud. We are a multinational, Brazilian multinational company. We love Brazil, but we're also expanding in a relevant way outside Brazil. Well, concluding, now we'd like to ask Jessica to begin the Q&A session. Okay, Jessica? Oh, financing structure. Estevão can also talk about this. Some steps. We, as Fras-le Brazil, using the resources that we obtained from the issuing of shares in 2022 plus debt, we will capitalize our, our North America unit and also Fras-le Mobility in Mexico.
So Fras-le Mexico can buy DACOMSA, and thus we will leverage DACOMSA to buy Fritec, some plots of land, and the brands. So it has leverage. So we have credit reserves ready in Mexican pesos for the purchase via DACOMSA, and also in reais, local currency, and also resources from the last follow-on. Later on, also, we have our funding concentrated here. Well, a summary: we're buying a company with a market cap of BRL 2.1 billion, no debts. We're buying 100%, an escrow account of 3% for contingencies for the next two years. We approved the council, and we signed the contract. Sérgio, Sérgio, Anderson, and I are here signing the contract, and we hope the authorities will approve this transaction. We have other smaller conditions.
The closing, with a payment of 100%, will happen when all these conditions are met. After that, we can work on the integration plan, waiting for the antitrust authorities, but ready for the next steps if the authorities approve the deal. Now, Q&A, Jessica.
Yes, thank you. Thank you, Hemerson, Anderson, Sérgio. Now we will begin the Q&A session. The first is by audio, Lucas Marchiori from BTG. Lucas, you can ask your question.
Thank you, Jessica. Good evening. Congratulations for the acquisition. It's very transformational. I have two questions, Hemerson. The funding, please, how much is your own capital? How much is debt? What do you expect in terms of leverage after the group? So pesos, also pesos. Second topic, you mentioned the acquisition will give you more access to the U.S. market.
What is the breakdown of revenue of all these entities you're buying by market, how much they are selling to the U.S.? Do you believe this can grow, and what this can benefit the Brazilian market? So... And also engine components, can they be sold in Brazil? Thank you.
Thank you, Lucas. I will share this with Estevão , the issue on funding.... what we will have 1.3x leverage in Fras-le Mobility. Our leverage will be 1.3x. Thank you, Hemerson.
Lucas, thank you for the questions. Congratulations to Fras-le for this transformational acquisition. Lucas, concerning the capital structure for acquisition, we BRL 350 million from the follow-on of Fras-le in 2022. This money is still in our cash. We were waiting for the best use of these resources from that follow-on.
So another BRL 750 million will be borrowed in Brazil and sent to Fras-le Mexico and Fras-le USA, and to close MXN 1 billion in Mexico to use the tax benefit they have there for interest. Since we have an operation that will come without debt, and we will, we will use the leverage and obtain the favorable effects.
Thank you, Estevão. Now Sérgio and Anderson to talk about the potential of exposure in the U.S. and also the exports of this new company.
I will begin here, Sérgio. Thank you, Lucas, for the question. Well, beginning with product lines, 50% of the portfolio acquired has no convergence with our products. It's new, it's all new. Engine products, gaskets, pistons, and other engine parts. So here we see a potential. We're observing a great potential for nearshoring. The exports of piston lines, especially this line.
Adequate products, we have to develop this portfolio. Hemerson mentioned that for being less than 10%, the exports, the allocation of capital was smaller to exports. So there is space for us to increase the capacity through investments and the increase of competitiveness with lean and automated manufacturing. They are very competitive. We did a market test of some products in the U.S. We understand there are many opportunities, and we have already carried out a market test in Brazil. But since they are working at full capacity, we will focus first of all, on the U.S. market due to nearshoring and friendshoring in the U.S.. So the easiest line to explore abroad is this one. It represents 6% of the group in exports, and predominantly all of it goes to the U.S.
Two, Three years ago, they had no presence in the U.S. They are growing. They were very small, so they grew a lot. So that's why we believe a lot in this line. Now, the friction line is more competitive, more local players, but we have seen many opportunities to elevate this competition. There is space to win market share inside Mexico. We can improve also delivery in other countries to win scale, and then to think about the U.S. with friction. So when you ask about Brazil, we will of course, look at products that can be used in our sales force and our channels, but we will continue... These are not the low-hanging fruit for next month, for tomorrow. So this is our vision concerning the exploration of all these product lines. Sérgio, would you like to comment?
Anderson explained well. Very clear. Thank you. Good evening.
Thank you, Lucas. The next question, Lucas Laghi , analyst from XP.
Good evening, good evening. Congratulations for the acquisition. In line with what you had said in the past. Congratulations! I would like to know better Hemerson's comment concerning synergies. Some follow-ups concerning the potential for BRL 300 million in synergies. You talk about BRL 300 million in five years synergies. What is the annual synergy? What is the annual synergy? I believe you have smaller synergies. The leveraging of the lines and costs, so I'd like to understand the annual synergy. So Pontalti's comment, it was clear that the gains in revenue, I would like to understand cost and also optimization of the supply chain. And a last part: What do you believe will be more difficult? What is the greatest challenge in integration?
Nakata was a good example of integration, so you learned with Nakata, this company in Mexico. I'd like to understand the challenges that you see in this integration process.
Thank you. Thank you, Lucas. I will begin with the difficult part about the integration. We discussed this a lot. This transaction, we have been looking at this company for many years, for five years, and we have studied this company. We wanted to grow in Mexico. This was our main target, the target that we wanted. Integration was something that we discussed a lot. Sérgio will talk about this.
Thank you for the question, for participating. What we have in mind for this transaction is a repetition of what we did in other geographies, in other locations. But the fact that it is another country, this brings more challenges. We cannot take our Brazilian head, although there are great similarities between the cultures of the two countries. So we're close in, in the way we think, in the way we talk about price increases, in the way we explore opportunities, but we have to become Mexican. We have to think like Mexicans think. So this absorption of the way they do business in Mexico is something that we have to work on. How will we deal with this? Maintaining the current manager, who has done a good job, so all the company's board continues with us.
We will add our head for the business, but we will have the possibility to learn together with the current team, managerial team at the company. Some processes this company has, the managerial softwares, they use SAP S/4HANA, which we implemented in Brazil, softwares for accounting, for human resources. They use the same software packages that we use. So although we want to be open-minded, there is a great cultural identity, and in terms of governance, the processes are very similar to ours. So we continue, we will do the integration. We're not in a hurry to integrate immediately, no. We will use our ethical conduct on the first day, our accounting norms, our way, our way of dealing with accounting. We will implement things shortly, and many other activities we will implement as we feel it's necessary. The same thing we did at Nakata.
In Nakata, we have some small processes that are still being integrated three years later. So I hope I answered your question. This is our idea, and this is our, these are our concerns.
Thank you, Sérgio. Lucas, I will also talk about synergies. In general, we know what is revenue and cost, and we know what can happen at the end of the fifth year, the real EBIT of this company. I can tell you, this is our internal data. We have to check this to improve this. We hired for this company, for this, a company, we will refine the numbers.
We, for the time being, we had access to the numbers as buyers, but we have a rich perception visiting the plants, that our expertise as a company dedicated to produce and buy auto parts, we have a lot to share to integrate in their production. Also, many things to learn. The market, when we talk about support and distribution. To be more granular, the first years, the first and second years, are more concentrated on the synergies in raw materials, sourcing. After the second year, this will be leveraged, so two-thirds of this amount will come in the last few years, in the last years. We have been successful. We're always very conservative. We want to promise this support, and we will do our best to have even better results. In terms of revenue and cost, we have a balance, fifty-fifty, it's very balanced.
So we have new lines. Things can go quicker. We're being conservative. We're understanding. We introduced Nakata in Colombia two years ago, in the U.K. this year, so we have been diligent to be on the right track from the beginning. If Anderson wants to supplement...
I will add two, three points. Yes. I talked a lot about top line for pistons. We will, we will have to unleash capacity. This is for the third, fourth, and fifth years to, but sourcing is very fast. We're very positive about sourcing with two aspects. We noticed that they have competence, but our competence as Nakata, managing the line, especially in Asia, it is more granular and can bring a lot of benefits for us. So we will collect this rapidly, and we trust we can deliver good values.
Together with this project, we see also other targets in suspension, similar to Nakata, and we see that there is space in the market to introduce these lines, especially with our sales force here. We want to develop the portfolio for suspension, also shock absorbers, to introduce this with our sales force. Also, we have to expand the storage area. Two things that are very relevant. We have decided to maintain all the board of the company, so we will maintain the board of directors as we have done in all acquisitions. Experience shows that we have our idea about synergies. When we sit together and look at them together with them, normally they grow with this dialogue. Also, we made the decision to hire someone from the market to help us for the integration and capture of synergies.
Due to the relevance of the deal, we will have professionals helping us to integrate and also capture our synergies. So a point I understand well, after five years, what will be the EBITDA? Another BRL 50 million, another BRL 100 million. Nakata, when we acquired, they had BRL 63 million in EBITDA. Today, 2024, Nakata has more than BRL 250 million. Less than five years, we had estimated BRL 100 million. We did much more than that, and we hope to do the same with this acquisition. But I say, as Anderson said, the important part begins now. There's a reasonable chance to have these BRL 313 million in five years on a different level... maybe as these synergies happen. So we don't have all the information, but you can be sure that we're very optimistic, as we did in all the transactions.
Juratek, we purchased with nine EBIT, and now 16, and it's—they only have sourcing. Well, thank you, Lucas. I hope I answered. I hope I was clear. We're very optimistic, as I said. Thank you. Good evening.
Thank you, Lucas. The next question, Victor Mizusaki from Bradesco BBI.
Congratulations for the acquisition. We have two questions. The first, in terms of friction materials at KUO, how do you compare the technology, the quality in relation to yours? And the second question, when we look at in Mexico, as you mentioned, they have many divisions, and you're buying 100% of the automotive division. Do you intend to buy the rest of the divisions?
I will begin answering, and then Anderson can talk about the friction technology. We bought only the aftermarket division. We... It's not in our interest, the other division. They have a transmission plant.
We're not interested. We, we don't intend to buy this business. We know that they have a joint venture in this business, so they will talk to their partners. We have no information. Today, the transaction is for aftermarket. Pontalti.
Yes, thank you, Victor. We don't see synergies in the other products. So we couldn't use cross-selling or their sales forces in the other products. So Fras-le Mobility does not have tools to create value to the other operation. Now, concerning Fritec, it's a company with a good reputation. They have a market perception of they are not low price, and they are not premium. We noticed possibilities of optimizing, according to the information they gave us, some materials used with, opportunities to have a better cost, but we have to dive into the formulas and work on this. We have only preliminary information.
In terms of plants, yes, we have our plants in Caxias and Sorocaba well ahead of the technology we are buying. Our technology in Brazil is better, but here we see a giant potential to generate value, even with the current plant, with small improvements that we have seen already in our Fras-le world. So in the medium term, we will increase value in terms of cost and price, which will create a better perception of the product, but also optimization of footprint. I can produce some things there and export to Brazil, and some parts in Brazil, export to Mexico. Thank you.
Thank you, Victor. Thank you, Victor. Now I will pass the floor to Gabriel, analyst from Santander.
Good evening. Congratulations for the results. On engines, I'd like to know more about your thoughts about this market.
The margin, as you said, 21%, a little higher than we see in Fras-le. How do you see? Talk more about this industry of engines? And the second point, thinking of leverage, Hemerson said that you will get close to 1.3x leverage. Now, in the future, 1.5x or 2x, do you believe you will reach this? And based, do you believe you will accelerate acquisitions in terms of acquisitions? Thank you, Gabriel.
Sérgio, these two questions are for you, and we can supplement... and our appetite for acquisitions from now on?
Thank you for the question. We like products that will have a replacement market that is strong. Engine parts, as Anderson mentioned, if you don't have a high quality for engine parts, the whole engine can be ruined, and the cost of repair is very high.
So these components, they have a great responsibility, and this facilitates them to have a good margin. We know that the name, the brand, is very important. The brand, when the mechanic says, "I will have to change components, I will use Moresa." So this is the strength of the brand. So we believe that, yes, the margins for these product lines, for engine parts, are well aligned with what we have in other units, and with potential to grow to be higher, where we, Fras-le Mobility, have a know-how for manufacturing that is even stronger. We know what to do there to improve, in general, these products. And yes, our intention is to use this platform, stabilize the platform, do a correct integration, and we will want to increase the exports, our share in light vehicles in the U.S.
We will have also more product lines, both in terms of manufacturing or outsourcing, and we will continue to do transactions to participate in the largest global market, the USA.
Sérgio, although we increased the leverage of the company, we continue with our appetite for more M&As.
Yes. Yes. We have no intention to... We don't intend to have leverage two, three, four times, which is common in the USA. For us, this is kind of off limits. We don't want to get to this type of leverage two, three, four times. But as we mentioned, 95% of our revenue will come from replacement. This gives us a lot of resilience, which could, in theory, make us more aggressive to allow greater leverage. But our intention is, as we have done, we work, we do the transaction, then we reduce the leverage to close to one.
We let it grow until two, maybe, and then we reduce it. Yes, we have the intention to continue with more growth of Fras-le Mobility. We may leverage ourselves a little more. Thank you.
Thank you, Gabriel. The next question is from Gabriel Rezende, analyst from Itaú BBA.
Thank you, Jessica. Thank you, Jessica. Good evening. Two follow-ups. If you can tell us how we can think of Fras-le's position to have products for engines. So I'd like to understand how this market can also increase your appetite to have engine parts in Brazil. Pontalti mentioned about the company acquired, that it, there is space to improve, especially in comparison with the plants in Brazil, but we see a profit margin that is higher than Fras-le in Brazil. Why is this margin higher? The breakdown of clients. So why is their profitability higher?
Well, Rezende, thank you for the questions... I will share this with Anderson on engine parts in Brazil, and I will answer about this efficiency and also margins, the comparison of margins. When we visit these operations, we notice some space for investments, improvement, and to be more effective, optimizing the processes or changes in formula that can bring economic improvements and also, and also the performance. I believe this is a good information for the market. Right now, in Fras-le Mobility, 35% of what we sell is with co-manufacturing. These are products we purchase from partners with our intellectual property. So the products, the standards, what we want from the product, so we buy from third parties. In Refacciones, they have a process that is not-- that hasn't evolved like we have.
But the difference in margin comes because in engines, engine parts, so in engine parts, the profit margin is a little higher than in other products. So as a company, after the approval by the authorities, the margins in engine parts are higher. Why? Because it's a premium product. Anderson, if you wish to comment. And yes, we may look for targets in other countries. Yes, in engine parts.
Gabriel, thank you for the question. I'd like to add two points. They have an extra channel. They produce and distribute as if Fras-le were the owner of Comolatti or DPK. So they are manufacturers. We have to bear this in mind, and if you look at the synergy of fixed costs in their plant for engines, they don't need a sales force.
They have a very intelligent structure, and for us, this is not possible in Brazil because of the relationship we have with the clients. Well, we have higher margins in Argentina. So although we can't compare because of the inflation in Argentina, so we see that since these are the benefits of higher margins, so the group—so when we know that in pistons, we will bring new technologies, improvements in production, in machining, there are things that we know. Our specialists and our board participated in the visits to the plants and capture of ideas, and looking at the cost they have with the scale they have, they have a high competitiveness, which can be used for exports to Brazil, and in the future, may be an operation in Brazil. But this is not the first plan of the company.
We have to improve results here, explore the U.S. market. This makes sense now. And then, yes, like we do for all, we, for example, so for example, we have to make sure if we're going to take our suspension line to Mexico. We know the Asian producers that send products to Mexico. So we're still. We will do all of this in the next few months. Thank you. Congratulations.
Before going to the last question, we have some questions in the chat. Most of them was answered during the Q&A. We had questions linked to expansion in the U.S. Ricardo, Anderson, and Hemerson talked about this. There's one question from Ricardo from... concerning the mix between manufacturing and outsourcing of KUO Refacciones. 25% of their sales are outsourced. It's not similar to our co-manufacturing in Brazil. There are many opportunities to use a combination of sources.
Thank you, Ricardo. If you have more questions, please get in touch with us. We have a question from Wagner, from Quantitas. I believe this was answered during the Q&A. A question concerning models, a comparison between Brazil and Mexico for light vehicles.
Yes, thank you, Wagner. Our fleets are very similar, Brazil and Mexico. The fleets of vehicles are very similar. There's a lot of development to be done, although our know-how can do this rapidly. An important point, Pontalti knows more about this. We see different vehicles in the streets, but few engines are used in many models. They have fewer engines. For example, one engine can be used by 40 models. But we see a lot of space to develop this and capture synergies. In friction, we already sell rotors, suspension, they sell, and hydraulics. We want to introduce our brands in Mexico.
Thank you. Now, the last question from Igor, analyst from Genial.
Thank you. Congratulations for your, the acquisition, Hemerson, Anderson, Sérgio. Well, most of the questions I had were answered, even the last two about outsourcing. Now, one question I have still concerning the longer cycle when we talk about engines, engine parts. So does this hinder the ROI? Do you see KUO with the return on investment better with these higher margins?
Thank you, Igor. Excellent point. Engines, engines, normally they, they last longer. Yes, we had this on our checklist. When we bought also Nakata, we wanted to understand more about shock absorbers. Shock absorbers, you, you have to replace every five years. And when we talk about engines, there are two points that make you change an engine: miles, mileage, and also negligence on the part of the driver.
So although engines last longer, eight years, when you have to change engine components, there's negligence also on the part of the driver, and this reduces. So 30% of the sales, we're not specialists in engines right now, but we will be. 30% of the sales come from negligence and also bad maintenance. Sérgio and Hemerson can supplement.
The average ticket is much higher. The ticket is higher, reputation of the brand is important. So it's a profitable market. The return, the ROI is good. We understand there is space to improve in some fronts, like inventory. But obviously replacement, you need inventory to be able to sell. Service is important. We don't have all the answers, but it's a good ROIC, and will contribute for the return on investment.
Just a point, this increase in ROI can come if you balance, if you balance manufacturing and outsourcing. I believe that there is space to grow in the market. Yes, when we introduce new lines and being more efficient in the lines we have. Yes, we will have to understand this better. Since we are competitors, it's difficult to obtain all the information. We received sufficient information to understand costs, competitiveness, and service, and it was all very positive. But we will have more information as we manage the company after the purchase is approved. And Sérgio, Anderson, if they want to talk about the cycle of engine parts.
I have one point, Hemerson, reminding you that the fleet is on average 16 years old. This helps to have an opportunity for engines.
Here we have a lot of used vehicles, used American vehicles in Mexico, so many are not registered, so there is demand. There's an expertise based on the wear and tear of the engines, and we have 30% of the fleet in Mexico City, where temperature is very high due to the low refrigeration and also a lot of traffic. So engines have more wear and tear because there is a lot of traffic in Mexico City. So these are peculiar points. They're not true for other markets. Sérgio?
The only point is that although, yes, the cycle is longer for engine parts, the market is giant, a giant market, and the number of pistons in each engine, at least three, four, five, six pistons or more. So when the engine is repaired, you have to change all the pistons.
The cycle is longer, yes, but the market is very big, and this is what we discovered during the due diligence. Moresa is the one that is the strongest in revenue, reminding you that you change all the pins and all the gaskets too, pistons, gaskets, high ticket.
And if you allow me a small follow-up in terms of the market for combustion engines. So exposure is larger in light vehicles. Do you intend to diversify and produce, produce, pistons, engine parts for heavy vehicles? Do you intend to include also heavy vehicles? I'd like to know your thoughts about the long term.
Igor. We have a lot of space to explore. There will be a market for many decades for the return on capital, and when technology changes, they are concentrated on heavy players. And like here, other manufacturers don't have the competitiveness we have.
For example, in brake pads. We're very optimistic that we will be able to be stronger in light vehicles. But as we go deeper into this market, we will have a better understanding of this. So the networks are different for heavy vehicles, and we already sell some parts for heavy vehicles in Brazil, but we have to think about this, and we can even think of new targets, new acquisitions too. Thank you. Congratulations.
Thank you, Igor. Thank you to all who participated with us. Now, I'd like to pass the floor to Sérgio for his final comments.
Thank you, Jessica. Once again, we're available for any clarification. If you have more questions, please get in touch with us, our team, and we'll do our best to clarify. Thank you for your attention, for participating, and we wish you a good evening. Good evening. Good evening.