O Dia do Fico do ‘Júnior da Amil’

On the final morning of the week, nearly 24,000 Amil workers received an email from the company's owner, José Seripieri Filho. In the message, the "Júnior da Amil" announced that negotiations to sell the company had concluded and he would continue to lead the business – today the third largest provider of supplementary health in the country, with over 3.6 million medical lives and 46 hospitals.

This marked the end of a five-month process where Júnior and his partners – Alberto "Beto" Bulus and CFO Grace Tourinho – negotiated the company with a consortium formed by Advent and Bain. The talks were initiated by Grace and led along with Juan Pablo Zucchini, the managing partner of Advent in São Paulo. Júnior played a minimal role in the process.

The cheque on the table was valued at R$ 20 billion in equity. (Amil has virtually no net debt.) Initial talks were about selling a minority stake in the company – a primary infusion that would help Amil accelerate its business plan – but later evolved into a full sale. Despite the size of the cheque, those in the know told Brazil Journal that Júnior always had doubts about the business, which ultimately did not go through due to technicalities.

"When you don't want to sell, any reason is a reason: 'Look, it's raining in São Paulo...'," said a source close to the entrepreneur. "Being 'Júnior da Amil' became almost his surname, just like he was 'Júnior da Qualicorp' – not to mention that this company could be worth twice as much if it ever goes public." Despite the failed negotiations, Amil said it remains open to the entry of a minority partner.

But why would a debt-free company, expected to generate an EBITDA between R$ 2.5 bi and R$ 3 bi this year, be open to an infusion? According to these sources, Bulus and Tourinho are particularly against Amil leveraging itself, and a minority partner's entry would help finance acquisitions at a time when several regional players are weakening.

The next step for the company could be tapping the capital market if Brazil allows IPOs to return in 2027. Applying a multiple of 10.5x EV/EBITDA, a listed Amil could be worth R$ 40 billion, according to BTG calculations shared with Brazil Journal. (Rede D’Or, by comparison, trades at 8x and has an average historical multiple of 11.7x since its IPO, according to Bloomberg.)

Since assuming Amil in 2024, the trio of Júnior, Beto, and Grace simplified the company's organogram, cutting numerous management layers and generating savings of R$ 470 million/year just in the operating expenses. The new management also adopted a more rigorous pricing policy and a more aggressive sales posture – Júnior's specialty.

This turnaround reversed a cash burn of R$ 1.4 billion in 2023, and the company generated R$ 1.4 billion in cash in 2024, R$ 2.3 bi in 2025 and estimated R$ 2.6 bi this year. So far, Amil has only cut the high branches, but they have not gone deep into improving practices and processes, managing systems, and implementing artificial intelligence.

There is still a huge value creation ahead," said a source close to Júnior. At the IPO event next year, Amil could show investors 18.4% average compound revenue growth per year since Júnior took over – and an EBITDA that went from R$ 2.6 billion negative in 2023 to (estimated) R$ 2.7 billion this year. For now, Júnior will continue to be "the Júnior of Amil."