Brazilian Antitrust Authority (CADE) Unanimously Approves Business Combination Between Stone and Linx With No Restrictions

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, June 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StoneCo Ltd. (Nasdaq: STNE) (“Stone”), a leading provider of financial technology solutions that empower merchants to conduct commerce seamlessly across multiple channels, today announces that CADE, the Brazilian antitrust authority, unanimously approved, on this date, the business combination between STNE Participações S.A. (“STNE”), a controlled company of Stone that holds the software investments business of the Stone group in Brazil and Linx S.A. (B3: LINX3; NYSE: LINX) (“Linx”), a leading provider of retail management software in Brazil (“Transaction”), with no restrictions.

Stone believes that the business combination with Linx represents a significant value creation opportunity for all stakeholders, including clients, shareholders and employees and will help accelerate Stone’s mission of empowering Brazilian merchants of all sizes to manage their businesses more effectively through technology.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the Transaction, Stone and Linx have filed relevant materials with the SEC including a registration statement of Stone on Form F-4. The Form F-4 contains a prospectus and other documents. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF STONE AND LINX ARE URGED TO READ THE FORM F-4 AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT STONE, LINX AND THE TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS. The Form F-4 and all other documents filed with the U.S. SEC in connection with the Transaction are available, free of charge, on the U.S. SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Form F-4 and all other documents filed with the U.S. SEC in connection with the Transaction are available, free of charge, to U.S. shareholders of Stone on Stone’s website at http://www.stone.co.

Forward Looking Statements

This communication contains certain statements that are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “hope”, “intend”, “may”, “might”, “should”, “would”, “will”, “understand” and similar words are intended to identify forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Transaction. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements included in this communication. For example, the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the Transaction, that could reduce anticipated benefits or cause the parties to abandon the Transaction, the ability to successfully integrate the businesses, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the agreements relating to the Transaction, the risk that the parties may not be able to satisfy the conditions to the Transaction in a timely manner or at all, risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the Transaction, the risk that any announcements relating to the Transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the shares of Stone or Linx, the risk that the Transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of Stone and Linx to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally, the risk that problems may arise in successfully integrating the businesses of the companies, which may result in the combined company not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected, the risk that the combined company may be unable to achieve cost-cutting synergies or it may take longer than expected to achieve those synergies, and other factors. All such factors are difficult to predict and are beyond Stone’s control, including those detailed in Stone’s annual reports on Form 20-F and current reports on Form 6-K that are available on its website at http://www.stone.co and on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Stone’s forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Stone believes to be reasonable but that may not prove to be accurate. Stone undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or which we become aware of, except as required by applicable law or regulation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.

About Stone

Stone is a leading provider of financial technology solutions that empower merchants to conduct commerce seamlessly across multiple channels and help them grow their businesses.

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investors@stone.co