Read this Thursday’s edition of the FolhaMercado newsletter (13) – 07/13/2023 – Market

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Double listing on JBS

The protein giant JBS announced this Wednesday (12) that it will propose to shareholders a process of dual listing of its shares: in the US, on the New York Stock Exchange, and in Brazil, through BDRs (receipts traded on the B3 of stocks listed abroad).

The expectation is to get approval from shareholders, market regulators (CVM here and SEC in the US) and finalize the process by the end of this year. Nothing changes in the operation of the company.

in reaction to the news, JBS shares jumped 9.04%at BRL 18.80, the highest since November 2022.

What explains Moving to the US:

↳ unlock value: JBS cites numbers of pairs listed abroad to show that it can surf in an appreciation with the transition of the shares.

• One of them is Pilgrim’s, a poultry company controlled by JBS, which trades at a ratio of 9.3 times the market value divided by Ebitda (an indicator of cash generation). At JBS, this ratio is 5.9.

↳ Another benefit cited by the company is having access to a much wider range of investors, which could reduce the cost of debt by US$ 350 million.

• Today, its bonds are surcharged by at least 1.5% compared to similar companies operating in the US.

↳ There is also governance. As it is listed in Brazil and the US, it will be regulated by both the CVM and the SEC – the reference body in the matter.

The process: a new company will be created, JBS NV, headquartered in the Netherlands, which will issue share classes in the US and BDRs on B3.

• Trading in the US also allows the Batista family, which controls JBS and owns 20.89% of the total capital, to have a share class with voting power that is not traded on the stock exchange.

• This opens up the possibility of, in the future, raising money on the market from the issuance of the class that is traded on the Stock Exchange and still not losing decision-making power in the company.

More about J&F

The Batista brothers’ holding entered the dispute for the shares of Novonor (formerly Odebrecht) in Braskem with an offer of BRL 10 billion. In last month’s edition, we explained who’s who in the dispute for petrochemicals.

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New tribute in the reform?

An amendment approved in the PEC of the Tax Reform by the Chamber has left tax experts on alert and may even raise the prices of items in the basic food basket.

This is the state contribution, which will allow the taxation of primary and semi-finished products as an alternative to maintaining the financing of state funds created until April 30 of this year. The levy could apply until 2043.

Understand: the proposal suggests that it is an additional tax, a kind of new ICMS, which will be added to the taxes proposed in the reform —the state IBS (Tax on Goods and Services) and the federal CBS (Social Contribution on Goods and Services).

• The state funds referred to in the text were created in 2016 and are questioned in the STF until today. A survey identified 17 such funds (see which ones here).

Why it matters: many of these states lead or are relevant in the production of items consumed on a daily basis by Brazilians, such as corn, beef and soy (Mato Grosso), chicken (Paraná), coffee (Espírito Santo) and fruits (Pernambuco, Bahia, Ceará and Large northern river).

• From the collection of the new tax, specialists say that the increase would be passed on to supermarket shelves.

More on Tax Reform

Services on the agenda: considered as a sector that will end up paying more taxes directly from VAT, entities are moving to contain losses in the Senate.

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Who are the Brazilian microworkers

Spending the day having to identify images, check ads or describe a series of commands in exchange for less than $5 an hour – but without the guarantee of being paid.

This is the routine of microworkers, as those who do a series of tasks to supply and train AI (artificial intelligence) tools are called.

the reporter Pedro Teixeira signed up to be one of them at Remotasks, a site that offers data annotation jobs.

After training for just over an hour, he had to describe, via text, in English, commands for a robotic arm that moved objects in a house. Each instruction must contain up to 20 characters.

To complete the task, it was necessary to accumulate 3,500 experience points, as in a video game. But the user can be excluded from the project in case of less than desired work, which also leaves him without payment.

Who are the Brazilian microworkers:

• They work an average of 15 hours and 30 minutes a week, which earns around BRL 583 per month;

• They usually do their jobs at dawn, the period of the day when platforms, generally based in the northern hemisphere, usually replace tasks;

• A third of them say they have no other source of funds, despite the sites promoting themselves as platforms for extra income;

• They have a level of education above the average of the Brazilian population, with 43% having completed high school and 39% having completed higher education.

The profile was mapped by Professor Matheus Viana Braz, from UEMG (State University of Minas Gerais), in a study that interviewed 477 workers on the Clickworker platform, the most successful competitor of Remotasks in the country.

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Musk now owns AI startup

Just over three months after signing a letter asking for a break in AI development, Elon Musk launched his own technology-related startup this Wednesday.

Named xAI, the company’s team includes former engineers and scientists from Google, Microsoft and OpenAI – the company co-founded by Musk, which was no longer there when it launched the popular ChatGPT.

What is the startup for? Like almost everything involving the billionaire recently, little is known, and even if it were known, he could change his mind the next day.

• Musk just said that the reason for launching the startup is to “understand the true nature of the universe”. The company will broadcast on Twitter Spaces tomorrow (14).

• xAI’s website says it will work closely with the billionaire’s other companies, including Twitter and Tesla.

More about AI