Opinion – Marcos de Vasconcellos: GetNet’s early disembarkation from the stock exchange generates unwanted mistrust

A movement in the financial market turns on a yellow light for those who bet on companies that have recently arrived on the stock exchange, in the so-called “IPO window” of 2021.

Seven months after going public, GetNet, which sells credit card machines, has decided to go public. And it will pay, per share, the same as it received in the IPO: R$ 2.36.

In a disastrous campaign, the papers melted from its second day of trading. In the first, they were even negotiated for R$ 11.70. After that, it went downhill, even reaching R$ 1.50.

Multiplying the number of shares that went into circulation (the so-called free float) and the IPO price, we arrive at the figure of R$ 444 million straight to cash, in theory.

In a simple (and hypothetical) account, if GetNet simply took this money on the day of the IPO and bought Treasury Direct bonds, now, seven months later, it would have an income of about R$20 million, already deducting income tax.

By announcing that it will pay the same price as the IPO, the company disregards the opportunity cost of the investor who believed in its project to grow and become “a one-stop shop in the Brazilian payments sector”.

Since money is not infinite (at least in my case), whoever agreed to buy GetNet shares stopped buying other shares, such as its direct competitor, Cielo, whose CIEL3 shares rose about 30%, or Petrobras ( PETR4), which rose 17% in the same period.

Not to mention the loss of the value of money in this period, with our rampant inflation. If it were corrected by the IPCA since October 2021, when the IPO was made, the value of a GETT3 share would today reach BRL 2.53, above the promised BRL 2.36.

This is still an announcement, it has a lot of legal proceedings to take place, but it ends up worrying the investor who decided to bet on the last wave of companies that boarded the Stock Exchange, thinking about the long-term appreciation.

Times have been tough for the economy, and several newcomers to the market have seen their shares sink since the IPO in 2021, such as GetNinjas (-80%), Traders Club (-59%) and Desktop (-53%). The departure of GetNet generates insecurity for the investor who decided to bet on the long term and managed to remain calm in the collapse of the new shares.

Public offering of shares (OPA) movements for delisting on the stock exchange happen with some frequency, but, due to the lack of “glamour”, they tend to be less publicized in the news than IPOs. The most recent wave was in 2019, when Multiplus, Hering, Somos Educação, Tec Toy and Tarpon left B3.

Although it is part of the game, this risk must be clear to the investor. In a document sent to the CVM and audited by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), GetNet listed several risk factors to the share price, but the possibility of an early cancellation of its listing is not among them.

On the contrary: one of the points mentioned is precisely the risk of it issuing new shares and, with that, diluting the price of its shares. “We may, from time to time, need additional funds to implement our growth strategy, acquire target companies or otherwise conduct our activities and we may issue additional Units or ADSs (US-issued securities),” the document reads.

The lack of predictability is the main enemy of the investor. It is not by chance that the largest funds in the world have cash in hand at levels not seen since the attacks of September 11, 2001, waiting for clear paths.

When not even companies treat the stock market as something long-term, it is a sign that the perspectives were really mixed up.

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