Conata, OCC and Mundo Planalto: midsize engineering firms advancing in Brazilian concessions

Conata Engenharia and OCC Construções each hold a 25% stake in Rota do Pará S.A., the concessionaire responsible for 526 km of highways in the state of Pará, according to data from the Ministry of Transport. This data point illustrates a structural shift in Brazil's concession market: midsize companies now occupy positions once reserved for large engineering conglomerates.

The retreat of traditional construction giants over the past decade opened a significant operational vacuum. Construction firms such as Conata Engenharia, OCC Construções e Participações and Mundo Planalto are filling this space with strategies that combine the formation of multisector consortia, partnerships with private equity funds and access to capital markets. The result is an ecosystem of new protagonists competing for long-term contracts in highways, social PPPs and tourism infrastructure.

What is the profile of midsize engineering firms winning concessions?

The profile of these companies reveals a common trait: the ability to organize specific corporate vehicles for each project, compensating for the absence of balance sheets comparable to those of major construction firms.

Conata Engenharia operates with a share capital of R$20 million, following an increase registered in September 2025 through the incorporation of profit reserves, according to a publication in the Official Gazette of the Municipality of Conselheiro Lafaiete. Despite its modest capital size, the company participates in large-scale operations. In addition to its 25% stake in Rota do Pará S.A., Conata is part of the winning consortium for the Nova Lima Municipal Schools PPP, a contract exceeding R$1.24 billion with a term of 30.64 years, according to Radar PPP data from May 2024.

The combination of a 526-km highway concession with a social PPP spanning more than three decades demonstrates sectoral versatility. Midsize companies that diversify their portfolio across transport infrastructure and social facilities reduce exposure to the regulatory cycles of any single segment.

OCC Construções e Participações S/A shares with Conata the 25% position in Rota do Pará but also advances on its own fronts. In December 2024, OCC led the Consórcio Estádio Olímpico Ibirapuera, winner of the tender for the restoration of the Ícaro de Castro Melo Stadium in São Paulo, generating savings of 21% over the initial projection, according to Agência SP, of the São Paulo State Government. The cost efficiency in this tender signals technical competitiveness in high-visibility projects.

On the financial front, OCC approved the granting of a guarantee for the 1st issuance of simple debentures by Rota do Pará S/A in the amount of R$400 million, as reported by Monitor Mercantil in July 2025. The transaction exemplifies how midsize engineering firms access capital market instruments to finance the heavy investment phase of concessions.

Mundo Planalto operates in an adjacent but increasingly relevant segment: tourism and real estate infrastructure. The company invested R$5 billion in structuring developments in Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul, according to Folha de S.Paulo (Painel S.A.), in November 2025. The volume of resources positions Mundo Planalto as a significant-scale operator in an expanded concept of infrastructure that incorporates fractional ownership and tourism facilities.

How do these companies finance billion-dollar contracts without the balance sheets of major construction firms?

The answer lies in financial engineering as much as in civil engineering. Three mechanisms support the entry of these companies into long-term projects.

The first is the formation of SPEs (Special Purpose Entities) with ownership distributed among multiple partners. Rota do Pará S.A., with Conata and OCC each holding 25%, is an emblematic case. This structure allows risk and capital contributions to be shared, enabling the participation of companies whose individual share capital would be insufficient to secure the contract on their own.

The second mechanism is access to incentivized and infrastructure debentures. Law No. 12,431/2011 established incentivized debentures as the main fundraising vehicle with tax benefits for infrastructure projects. More recently, Law No. 14,801/2024, regulated by Decree No. 11,964/2024, created infrastructure debentures with new tax incentive rules applicable to sector concessionaires. The R$400 million debenture issuance by Rota do Pará, guaranteed by OCC, demonstrates that these instruments are accessible to concessionaires controlled by midsize companies.

The third pillar is the association with private equity funds and institutional investors, a practice increasingly discussed at sector forums such as those promoted by the GRI Institute. Without net operating revenue comparable to that of major groups, these engineering firms seek financial partners who contribute equity in exchange for participation in the SPEs, diluting the need for their own capital.

Incentivized and infrastructure debentures have become the central instrument for concessionaires controlled by midsize companies to finance long-term investments in highways, sanitation and social PPPs.

The concession pipeline fueling growth

The regulatory environment favors the expansion of these companies. The federal government plans 11 new highway concession contracts, with 15 auctions covering 8,400 km, according to the Ministry of Transport (data from February 2026). The 15 planned auctions are expected to mobilize R$161 billion in investments over the contract terms, according to the Ministry of Transport, via Robert Half.

The projection for private sector investment in infrastructure in Brazil is R$250 billion in 2025, according to data compiled by Neofeed in partnership with Robert Half. On the public financing side, BNDES is expected to approve R$30 billion in financing for highway projects, surpassing the record of R$23.5 billion set in 2024, according to BNDES itself (via Sindicamp).

A pipeline of R$161 billion in highway concessions creates structural opportunities for midsize engineering firms that master consortium formation and access to infrastructure debentures.

This volume of opportunities represents fertile ground for companies like Conata, OCC and Mundo Planalto, which have already demonstrated the ability to structure financial and operational vehicles for large-scale contracts.

What are the risks for emerging engineering firms in this concession cycle?

Accelerated growth brings proportional challenges. The concentration of long-term contracts, with terms that can reach 35 years, requires operational management capacity sustained over decades. Midsize companies that accumulate multiple concessions simultaneously face the risk of diluting their technical and managerial capacity.

Dependence on capital markets also introduces vulnerabilities. Fluctuations in interest rates and changes in investor appetite for debentures can restrict access to funding at critical moments in the investment cycle. The R$400 million issuance by Rota do Pará, although successful, illustrates the scale of fundraising required for a single project.

Finally, the lack of a long track record in large-scale concessions can hinder risk pricing by rating agencies and institutional investors. Building a track record is a gradual process, and each successfully executed contract strengthens the credibility of these companies in the market.

Outlook for the midsize ecosystem

Data mapping by the GRI Institute indicates that Conata Engenharia, OCC Construções and Mundo Planalto represent distinct facets of the same phenomenon: the consolidation of a midsize engineering ecosystem with real execution capacity in concessions and PPPs.

Conata combines highway infrastructure with social PPPs. OCC pairs concessions with urban restoration projects featuring proven cost efficiency. Mundo Planalto expands the concept of infrastructure into the tourism and real estate segment. All three use sophisticated corporate and financial structures to compensate for size limitations.

The midsize engineering ecosystem in Brazil has ceased to be a circumstantial alternative to the vacuum left by major construction firms and has become a structural component of the concession market.

Infrastructure sector leaders who follow this transformation through GRI Institute events and publications recognize that the next concession cycle will be defined by the capacity for financial and operational coordination, more than by balance sheet size.