This contribution would be made with funds from Caixa Participações (CaixaPar), Caixa's arm to acquire shares in companies. This would help to circumvent the bank's capital constraint, something that threatens to leave the institution out of the dispute. The idea is that the state company has a stake around 25% in the society that will operate the " Raspadinha” (scratch card).
"In that full concession model Caixa was out of business, but it understands that it is a product of great acceptance, great potential for sale. Caixa is looking for a partner to join in the exploration model," explained Santos. "It's a study, but the intention is to participate in the process because, as it has more than 50 years of the gaming market, do not want to stay out!" he added.
The state-owned company believes that the 13,000 lottery network, the high capillarity, the brand and the level of knowledge of the Brazilian market represent an important "intangible" capital to attract some partner that accepts it as a minority partner.
Santos explains that one of the reasons for the search for partnership is that there is a minimum transaction requirement for the sale of instant lottery that Caixa does not meet, but that foreign operators can reach.
According to him, there is still no value limit with which the government bank would participate in the deal. "It depends on the business plan that Caixa is discussing with the operators," he said, noting that there is a definition of rules for minority shareholders holding at least 15%. The corporate design involving Caixa Instantânea and CaixaPar in this process is still not resolved.
The leader of the Instant Cash System points out that the market has a sales potential of more than US$ 2.15 billion per year.
The process of operationalizing the Lotex concession is much slower than the government initially expected. In addition, the potential of collection with the grant to be paid by those who win the auction has fallen too much. Initially, the economic team expected to raise about US$ 1.2 billion. The values plummeted and, now they are trying to get at least US$ 300 million.
Because of this, these companies would also be looking for partners. One hypothesis that can not be ruled out, according to one source, is from consortiums of the international companies that took an interest in the Brazilian market, which would leave Caixa out. This, however, is not seen as a basic scenario because it would interest these companies to have the Brazilian bank as a partner mainly because of the lottery network, which would accelerate the process of distributing the product at a lower cost.
Another problem that has caused concern among potential participants, according to one source, is the possibility of Congress, with support from the government, to advance the legalization project of gambling, which would change the entire scenario of this market and the possibilities of gains .
Source: GMB / Value
