28/01/2021

By André Jerusalem

The year 2020 was like the year in which the world experienced (and continues to experience) one of the deadliest pandemics in history. In the opposite direction, 2020 was also marked as one of the hottest years for the capital market, with Brazil having an impressive 28 IPOs (initial public offerings), moving approximately R$1.4T117 billion.

The e-commerce sector deserves special mention, since major players with significant presence in the sector, such as Petz, Lojas Quero-Quero, Locaweb, Méliuz and Enjoiei, have had their shares listed on the stock exchange. It is also important to mention that some companies have chosen to follow the path of offering shares outside Brazil, as was the case of Mercado Livre, which has its shares listed on Nasdaq, a North American stock exchange that trades shares of companies operating in the technology sector.

However, despite the excellent year, few companies are able to pursue an IPO, since the process is costly and bureaucratic. Even so, even in a scenario of economic uncertainty, the e-commerce sector has proven to be resilient to the crisis and has been a fundamental tool due to the reduction in the circulation of people, making the forecasts for 2021 even more optimistic, and may even be better than the historic year of 2007, in which there were 64 IPOs.

Currently, important retailers such as Mobly, Tok & Stok and Westwing, which have a strong presence in e-commerce, are in the process of carrying out their IPOs, with Mobly expected to start trading its shares on February 2nd.

It is important to highlight that even companies that did not carry out an IPO have other capital market tools to promote their activities, such as the securitization of receivables, which is widely used by several companies that wish to anticipate payments made in installments.

Also worthy of note are investments related to the chain of companies that support e-commerce, especially in the logistics sector. This sector showed strong growth last year, especially those related to warehouses and storage facilities, since the technology sector promises to keep the demand for such structures strong. Currently, it is possible to find some Real Estate Funds on the stock exchange focused on investment in logistics warehouses, which may grow even more during 2021.