Brazil modified requirements to privatize Instant Lottery

The Official Bulleting published a resolution of the Investiment Association Program (PPI), to modify two key points of the document for the tender: the payment of the concession (the amount to be paid by the company) and the experience that will be required by the future operator.

The payment of the fixed tender can now be performed in up to eight installments, and no more than 4 times, according to a resolution signed in September 2018, which was already trying to facilitate this point as a way to attract investors.

In the original model, the minimum amount, that remains at R$ 542,1 million, must be paid in just one installment.

PPI resolution also establishes that the candidates of the tender must demonstrate experience in the operation of the instant lottery company, with a collection of at least R$ 560 million in 12 months, less that the half of the amount previously required, which had been R$ 1,2 mil millones.

Studies for the sale of Lotex started in August 2017. From July last year, the government has been trying to grant Lotex to the private sector, buy all attempts have failed due to a lack of interested parties.

BNDES, the Brazilian bank that administrates the processes, has postponed the tender of the lottery at least five times since last year to attract candidates.

Last week, after the government launched a new pack of privatization projects, the Special Secretary of the Ministry of Economy for Privatization, Development and Markets, Salim Mattar, said that the minimum price of Lotex was too high, which, he said, explains the failure of the tenders. In the current resolution, however, there were no changes in the amount of the tender. "Lotex twill have a new model," he said. The deadline to grant the so called "raspadinha" will be of 15 years.