Yesterday, we wrote about the rumors that BTG Pactual would be negotiating to buy $STNE.

Since Thursday, the market has been speculating that BTG Pactual and Stone would be negotiating an M&A — actually, BTG Pactual would be the buyer.

$STNE's gossip began in Dec of 2021 when the company hired $JPM to assess strategic options. In the local market, however, the gossip about $STNE looking for a potential buyer since March of 2021, when the company was supposedly negotiating with $XP.

As the deal didn't prevail, $STNE turned to Inter since both have an NDA agreement, but soon the sell-off began, and the deal was down. The market spreads the news that Stone has been negotiating with BTG Pactual, even though the deal would not be close to being concluded.

➡️What is in there for BTG Pactual?

Stone is one of the top five players in the industry, with a considerable capillarity, good tech resources for scaling its operations, and top-notch logistic capabilities.

Honestly, I believe that Andre Esteves (BTG Chairman) also observes that Andre Street ($STNE Chairman) is back. After losing money in its credit operation, local investors sold their shares quickly because of $STNE's naivety in jumping the gun, especially about lending in Bz.

Nevertheless, the market still has a high consideration for Street, so he returned and joined meetings with crucial investors. We believe Esteves knows that his name associated with Street's would restore investors’ confidence in mgnt and would use this to convince Street.

➡️What is in there for Stone?

Even though Stone isn't facing a liquidity issue, the company could use more resources to accelerate its strategy and resume its credit operation.

With BTG, $STNE could strengthen its position as a payment gateway for merchants using BTG's capital to leverage the existing operation. $STNE could leverage its platform to gain stickiness with its clients by offering complex products, such as lending, insurance, etc.