By Aluisio Alves
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Caixa Econômica Federal wants to list on the stock exchange the Elo card brand and the Caixa Asset third-party asset management business by the beginning of 2022, while trying to scale up the credit operation at the Caixa Tem digital bank before take it to the market, said the president of the state bank, Pedro Guimarães.
“Even with the current market conditions, Elo’s IPO (initial offering of shares) is a good operation to take to the market because it is a high-growth company,” Guimarães said in an interview with Reuters. “It is possible to do it as early as December or until February 2022.”
For months, Caixa, Elo’s largest shareholder with 41.5% of the company’s capital, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil have been trying to advance in preparations for Elo’s listing, which should take place on one of the US stock exchanges, to facilitate comparability with the global rivals Visa and Mastercard.
But more than 60 companies have postponed or canceled their plans to debut on the stock exchange this year, given the fall in shares and political and macroeconomic instability in Brazil. Several of those who carried their IPOs all the way through had to accept big cuts in stock prices. In some cases, the offers only took place with the guarantee of the so-called anchor investors.
Asked if Elo’s IPO will have this design, Guimarães declined to give details, but guaranteed that the operation will take place.
Elo, which claims to have a base of more than 140 million cards, plans to raise funds in the market to increase its network of issuers and invest more in technology, eventually with the purchase of fintechs, as Visa and Mastercard already do.
(Alberto Alerigi Jr. Edition)
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