Itaú buys another brokerage, Musk gives up on Twitter what matters in the market

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Itaú will take control of Avenue in 2 years

Itaú announced on Friday (8) that it signed a contract for the acquisition of control of Avenue, a brokerage for Brazilians investing abroad.

In numbers: Initially, Itaú will pay BRL 493 million for 35% of Avenue, through a contribution of R$160 million and a secondary purchase of shares.

• After two years, the bank will buy more 15.1% for a value yet to be defined, and will have control of the brokerage house, with 50.1%. There is also the possibility to buy the remaining slice later.

Who is Avenue: Founded in 2018 by ex-XP Roberto Lee, the brokerage began its operations with service in Portuguese for residents of Brazil interested in investing abroad.

• Today, there are more than 229 thousand customers assets and BRL 6.4 billion in custody.

the strategy: Itaú is filling its cart after having sold XP, a brokerage in which it had bought a minority stake in 2017, but which was later prevented by the Central Bank from taking control.

• Itaú’s idea is to expand the offer of services on ion, its investment platform for clients. The bank said that the management and conduct of Avenue will remain autonomous. The purchase still needs the approval of regulatory bodies.

• In April, the institution said it will allocate up to BRL 1 billion to acquire 50% of the capital of Totvs Techfin, the fintech of the Totvs group, the largest supplier of management software for small and medium businesses in the country.

Inflation accelerates and makes millionaires ‘less rich’

Brazilian inflation accelerated to 0.67% in June, informed the IBGE on Friday (10).

In numbers: the data came below the median of market projections, which was up by 0.71%. In 12 months, the IPCA accumulated an advance of 11.89%.

What drove the rise:

Relief: the transport group rose 0.57% in June, but it was a deceleration in relation to May (1.34%). Highlight for the prices of gasoline, item of greater individual weight in the IPCA, which fell 0.72%.

Inflation hits even millionaires: the acceleration of prices has proportionally greater weight in the pockets of the poorest, but also reaches the most wealthy.

• If ten years ago being a millionaire was practically synonymous with “earned life”, with a significant monthly income guaranteed, nowadays having such a fortune does not exempt Brazilians from working.

• A decade ago, with R$ 1 million, it was possible to buy, for example, a 148 m² penthouse with three bedrooms in Saúde, a neighborhood in the south of São Paulo, and still leave an automatic BMW 118i 2.0 in the garage.

• Today, with the same money, you can buy a 65 m² apartment with two bedrooms in Vila Mariana, also in the south of the capital, with space for a Chevrolet Onix 1.0 manual transmission.

More on inflation:

Musk (officially) quits Twitter

After much threatening, Elon Musk announced last Friday (8) that he has given up on buying Twitter, claiming that the network provided “false and misleading” information in the negotiations of the $ 44 billion deal.

What Musk says:

• Among the arguments for leaving the business, he cites that a preliminary analysis by his team found that the share of fake accounts and spam on the social network is much higher than the 5% reported by the platform, something he had already been questioning.

• The billionaire also claimed that Twitter laid off employees and stopped hiring, a practice he considers contrary to the company’s obligation to continue operating normally.

What Twitter says:

• Bret Taylor, chairman of the network’s board of directors, said the company is “committed to closing the transaction at the price and terms agreed with Musk” and that it will seek legal steps to secure the deal.

And now? There are a few ways to resolve the dispute between the entrepreneur and the social network:

In justice: the agreement provides for a fine of US$ 1 billion for the side that withdraws from the negotiation. Musk and his lawyers will certainly struggle not to have to shell out that amount, but in such cases the judge often rules in favor of the sellers.

• At worst, he may be forced to honor his commitment and buy Twitter at a price that has become exorbitant.

Wake up: to avoid a lengthy and costly trial, the parties could settle out of court.

• There are recent examples of both agreements to pay a fine and a deal for the deal to be closed at a lower price than previously announced.

Analysis | Frankie Taggart, from the AFP agency: Elon Musk, an executioner of the elites or a selfish pragmatist?

Startup of the Week: GoodStorage

The “Startup of the Week” board brings on Mondays the x-ray of a startup that recently received funding.

the startup: founded in 2013, it is a self storage company (a service that provides spaces of different sizes for storing goods) for individuals and companies.

In numbers: the startup announced last week that it had received a $75 million (R$ 398 million), which should be invested in spaces destined to companies.

the investor: the investment was led by the manager Evergreen Investment Advisors.

What problem does it solve: the spaces can be used by people who want to store seasonal goods or on specific occasions, such as when moving.

• For companies, the startup’s focus, the idea is to facilitate the management of the logistics chain, especially in the “last mile” mode, the last step before the product reaches the consumer.

Why it’s featured: in addition to GoodStorage having announced the largest contribution in the country in the last week, the investment takes place at a time of expansion of ecommerce observed during the pandemic.

More about the startup: operates more than 20 units in São Paulo, with spaces ranging from 1m² to 300m².

The week at a glance

There were 15 funding rounds carried out in Latin America, with US$ 105 million (R$ 557 million) in investments. Brazil led the number of contributions (12) and the volume raised by startups (US$ 99 million or R$ 525 million).

Data is provided by the Sling Hub platform.