At least 40 foreign online bookmakers have applied to operate in the Brazilian regulated market. The study was carried out by Pedro Simis and Felipe Getz, from Veirano Advogados.
According to lawyers and industry observers, the wave of mergers and acquisitions is expected to be strong.
Merger of bookmakers was already expected
Small companies that do not meet minimum regulatory requirements have entered the radar of big players. Brazil will implement regulation of this sector in 2025. According to lawyers and sector analysts, there should be a wave of mergers and acquisitions.
“But the requirements for obtaining the license, both financial and minimum participation of Brazilian capital, have already led to some partnerships for this first stage. Thus, several groups came together to make the request and guarantee the ability to operate legally on January 1, 2025″, says Clarissa Yokomizo, partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Gaming and Betting areas at Veirano Advogados.
According to Yokomizo, from now on, there should be a more structured, but quite robust, movement of investments in the sector, both foreign and national, through:
- Creation of joint ventures
- Acquisitions of companies that already have licenses
In any case, a new process will be required with the Prizes and Betting Secretariat of the Ministry of Treasury (SPA), linked to the Ministry of Treasury, at the time of the investor’s entry.
The enormous potential of this area made even the most conservative investors stop “looking away” and start considering the profit possibilities in this new regulated market.
Last Tuesday (20), the deadline to submit registration through the SPA ended for those who will continue working on January 1, 2025. The Betting Management System (SIGAP) has 113 registrations, but some bets appear duplicated and need forwarding.
The majority of these requests (96) were filed after July 31, when the federal government published the rules for online gaming, also known as online casinos.
Foreign managers
Part of the online gambling market is in the hands of foreign operators. Even applications presented by national companies (62 applications) can rely on foreign financial sources and resources, such as loans.
British companies dominate the list with six proposals, but there are also companies from the USA, Mexico, Spain, Australia, Philippines, Armenia, Cyprus and Gibraltar. Among the large foreign operators, the following currently participate in the national market:
- Bet365
- 777Partners (Brazino)
- Defy (1xBet)
- Kaizen (Betano)
- Entain (Sportingbet)
- Spartans (KTO)
- Betfair
The Treasury website recently included other companies that entered the country, such as:
- LottoLand
- VBet (BetConstruct)
- Superbet
- LeoVegas of Group MGM
Location
The majority of bookmakers chose São Paulo as the main state for their work in Brazil (67). The other companies are Rio de Janeiro (9) and Minas Gerais (7).
However, the Northeast is very popular, as it has 16 registrations for the states of Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Pião. The South has 10 candidacies, the Central-West has four. Thus, the only region that does not have a candidacy is the North region.
A foreign-based entity also submitted an application directly. But this candidacy should not be approved, as Brazilian legislation requires that companies must have 20% of their capital in Brazil.