A XP e o Itaú Unibanco: dos Produtos de Investimento a Desbancarização

This teaching case presents the narrative of the acquisition of XP Investimentos by Itau Unibanco. The bank offered to buy XP Investimentos. This movement occurred shortly before the broker asked to register for its IPO (Initial Offering of Shares, acronym in English) on the Brazilian stock exchange (B3). The objective of the study is to encourage discussions of the acquisition operation for the themes of governance structure and the theory of transaction costs amid technological innovation in the Brazilian financial market. On the XP side, the plan was clear: in one stroke, stay with the asset and eliminate a competitor, and now you can not only dream of being the largest investment group in Brazil. For Itau Unibanco - the largest player in the market - it now has the XP portfolio ready and eliminates a competitor that took its market share. The case indicates discussions about the logic behind Itau Unibanco’s acquisition of XP. Still, it allows asking whether the largest bank in Brazil would not be able to develop such capacities acquired from the broker, in addition to questioning whether XP’s internalized capacities are so valuable to the point of such investment.