How to invest in the games sector, delivery war and what matters in the market

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How to invest in games

The games sector attracted attention at the beginning of the year for the billionaire movements that showed its growth potential. For Brazilians who want to surf this wave, which involves even the metaverse, there are affordable options to invest in these assets.

Stuffed month. The games sector, which earns more than movies and music, ended January with three big deals closed:

• Take-Two, the maker of “GTA”, debuted the purchases of the year with the acquisition of mobile game maker Zynga by $12.7 billion (R$ 68 billion).
• In the biggest deal in the history of the industry, Microsoft, owner of Xbox, bought the producer Activision Blizzard, of “Call of Duty” and “Tony Hawk’s”, for $75 billion (R$ 402 billion).
• PlayStation’s Sony counterattacked with the purchase of game developer Bungie, creator of “Halo”, for $3.6 billion (R$ 19 billion).
• Industry IPOs and mergers and acquisitions are expected to exceed $150 billion in 2022, according to investment bank Drake Star Partners.

in red: the indexes and funds focused on the sector’s papers have presented a negative performance at the beginning of the year, marked by a fall in the stock markets abroad with the prospect of high interest rates.

Chinese interventions in the sector, such as limiting the time for children and teenagers to play online, also hamper actions.

options to invest in the sector:

• BDRs: receipts traded on the B3 that follow the performance of papers abroad and the variation of the dollar. Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Roblox and Zynga are examples of companies with BDRs on the Exchange.
• Funds: for those who want to delegate the selection of shares to a professional manager, there are platforms and banks, such as Warren, BB DTVM, Itaú, XP and Vitreo, which have recently launched options dedicated to the theme of games and the metaverse.
• ETFs: funds with shares traded on B3 that follow global stock indices. One example is JOGO11, which tracks the performance of the global ESPO (VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF) index.

BC wants to regulate cryptos

The Central Bank is studying a proposal to regulate financial transactions with cryptocurrencies in Brazil, which should also define penalties to contain the explosion of scams and fraud.

Understand: the idea is to classify crypto-assets as “investment vehicles”, which would be regulated by the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) and would be required to be headquartered in Brazil, in addition to keeping transaction records and documents.

Another objective of the bill, which would be presented by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), at the request of the BC, is to update the Penal Code, creating “embezzlement with virtual currencies”. The prison sentence should vary between four and eight years.

why it matters: Crypto scams, especially those promising big returns in a short time, have exploded in recent years. The most repercussion case came to light last year, when the Federal Police launched an operation against the consultancy of the “bitcoin pharaoh”.

• The company is suspected of operating a system of financial pyramids based on the public offer of an investment contract, without prior registration with regulatory bodies. The estimated damage is at least BRL 20 million.
• THE sheet told here how Glaidson Acácio became the “pharaoh of bitcoins”. He denies the charges.

In numbers: thefts and frauds involving cryptos have already amounted to around BRL 6.5 billion in less than two years, according to the Federal and Civil Police of São Paulo.

But global data shows that crypto transactions for illegal purposes have been falling in recent years. According to Chainalysis, which monitors the sector, criminal transactions were $10 billion (R$ 52 billion) in 2020, half of the previous year.

More about the crypto world:

Advent invests in Tigre

The private equity fund Advent bought, for BRL 1.35 billiona slice of 25% in Grupo Tigre, the companies announced on Friday (18).

Who is who:

• Tiger: the tube and fittings manufacturer is one of the industry leaders in Latin America and also has factories in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and the USA. The company from Santa Catarina was founded by the Hansen family about 80 years ago and is now opening its company for the first time to an external partner.
• Advent: the American manager knows the Brazilian market, having already invested in companies such as Quero-Quero and Big. Currently, it has equity interests in fintechs Ebanx and Nubank, among other companies.

the strategy: the deal was closed with an eye on infrastructure works in Brazil and the USA.

Battle of delivery

The departure of Uber Eats from the restaurant delivery service, scheduled for March 7, has already turned on the alert in restaurants about the risks of an even greater concentration in the market.

Remember: Uber announced in the first days of this year the date to end its restaurant delivery operations in the country.

Its platform is the market leader (25%), just ahead of Rappi (18%) and right behind Ifood (80%) –restaurants can use more than one service. The data are from Abrasel (Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants).

On alert: the entity claims to have received complaints from restaurants about an increase in the fee charged by the apps after the announcement of the departure of Uber Eats.

• Rates are negotiated in direct agreement with restaurants and companies, and therefore may vary depending on the region, company and partnership established.
• Rappi reported that it operates with a rate below the market average, and that its optional and renegotiable adjustments began in November 2021. iFood said that there was no adjustment in delivery and service fees to restaurants after Uber’s announcement. .

Fight at Cade: since last year, companies like Rappi, Uber Eats and 99Food, in addition to Abarasel, went to Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) to complain that iFood imposes barriers for competitors by forcing an exclusive contract model with restaurants .

Last week, Rappi filed a new demonstration in the body against the collection of a termination fine from restaurants that wish to break the exclusivity.

Space for the little ones: to escape the fight between the giants, newer companies in the sector have bet on market niches.

What’s next

IBGE:

• IPCA-15 (February) – Wednesday, 23
• Pnad (December) – Thursday, 24

FGV:

• IGP-M (February) – Friday, 25