BTG Builds a 14% Méliuz Stake as Batista Miner Addresses Vale Rumours
Brazil · Business
Key Facts
—BTG Pactual stake. The bank holds 16.52 million Méliuz shares, or 14.58% of common equity, plus derivatives equal to another 12.44% notional exposure.
—Méliuz Bitcoin pivot. The cashback fintech raised 180.08 million reais (US$32.39 million) in June 2025 to become Brazil’s first publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company.
—Vale buyback denied. Vale formally ruled out reacquiring the Corumbá iron-ore complex on 14 February 2026, after board-level visits sparked market speculation.
—Batista mining expansion. J&F Mineração plans to invest 4 billion reais (US$750 million) to lift output to 25 million tons, with Citi hired to sell a minority stake to foreign partners.
—Original deal value. The Batista brothers paid US$1.2 billion, including debt, for Vale’s Central-West System assets in 2022, marking their first major mining investment.
Banco BTG Pactual has quietly built a BTG Pactual Méliuz stake of 14.58% in the cashback-turned-Bitcoin-treasury firm, while a mining venture controlled by Joesley and Wesley Batista is publicly denying any ongoing talks for Vale to buy back the Corumbá iron-ore assets it sold them in 2022.
How BTG Pactual assembled its Méliuz position
BTG Pactual first crossed the 5% relevant-shareholder threshold in April 2025, disclosing 5.47 million common shares of Méliuz, almost all held for hedging client derivative transactions.
The position expanded sharply after Méliuz launched a 180.08 million-real follow-on offering in June 2025, with BTG acting as bookrunner and subscribing to 2.83 million new shares.
By 17 July 2026, BTG and its subsidiaries notified the market they had reached 16,516,920 common shares, equivalent to 14.58% of Méliuz’s total common equity, with additional cash-settled derivatives referenced to 14,086,700 shares.
Méliuz and the Bitcoin treasury experiment
Méliuz amended its corporate purpose in May 2025 to permit Bitcoin investments, positioning itself as what management called “the first bitcoin treasury company in Brazil.”
The follow-on shares were priced at 7.06 reais, a 5% discount to the prior close, and the proceeds were earmarked entirely for Bitcoin purchases rather than operational expansion.
By July 2026, Méliuz shares were trading at 4.71 reais, reflecting both the volatility of its crypto-linked strategy and the market’s wait-and-see posture toward a fintech whose core business remains Brazilian cashback and loyalty programmes.
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BTG’s stated intentions and governance guardrails
In every regulatory filing, BTG Pactual has insisted its position is aimed at “mera realização de operações financeiras”—purely financial operations—and that it has no intention of altering Méliuz’s control structure or management.
The bank has also stated it is not targeting any particular ownership level, though the combination of direct shares and derivatives gives it economic exposure approaching 27% of Méliuz’s common equity base.
Founder and CEO Israel Fernandes Salmen separately reorganised his holdings in July 2026, transferring 15 million shares into the TZUR investment fund, of which he is the sole quota holder, with no change in his economic stake.
The Batista brothers’ mining pivot and the Corumbá assets
J&F Investimentos, the holding company of Joesley and Wesley Batista, paid US$1.2 billion including debt for Vale’s Central-West System in 2022, acquiring manganese and iron-ore mines plus logistics operations in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The deal closed in July 2022 with a final US$150 million payment, and the Batistas’ mining unit quickly doubled annual output to around 4 million tons while pledging 5.5 billion reais to reach 10 million tons.
The acquisition marked the family’s first major move beyond meatpacking giant JBS into metals, a diversification that analysts have described as an attempt to build a “JBS of mining” in Brazil’s iron-ore heartland.
Vale rumours, board visits, and a formal denial
Market speculation flared in early 2026 after columnist Lauro Jardim of O Globo reported that Vale board members had visited the Corumbá mines, fuelling talk of a possible buyback.
Vale responded on 14 February 2026 with a formal market communication stating it had evaluated the possibility and “discarded” any investment in the Corumbá iron-ore complex owned by the Batista brothers.
The miner emphasised that its decisions are guided by technical and governance criteria, effectively closing the door on a reunion with the assets it sold just four years earlier.
What the Batista camp is planning instead
Rather than negotiating a sale back to Vale, J&F SA has engaged Citigroup to arrange the sale of a minority stake in its iron-ore miner LHG Mining to foreign partners, with several non-binding offers already received from large miners, private equity funds, commodity traders, and steel mills.
The group plans to invest around 4 billion reais to expand production to 25 million tons, with new processing plants expected to start operations by 2030.
A core condition set by J&F is that any stake sale must go to foreign partners rather than Brazilian industry peers, signalling an ambition to build an independent regional champion rather than a short-term flip.
What the twin stories mean for investors and expats
The BTG-Méliuz relationship illustrates how Brazil’s largest investment bank is using its balance sheet to gain exposure to high-risk, high-reward fintech experiments, including a Bitcoin treasury strategy that would be unthinkable for most listed Brazilian companies a few years ago.
For foreign investors and expats watching Brazil, the Batista brothers’ mining expansion and Vale’s firm rejection of a buyback confirm that the Corumbá assets are not coming back to the blue-chip miner, making LHG Mining a standalone entity worth monitoring as it seeks international capital.
Both stories underscore a broader theme: Brazilian corporate power is being reshaped by financial engineering on one side and family-led industrial diversification on the other, creating new opportunities and risks that demand careful due diligence.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is BTG Pactual’s current stake in Méliuz?
As of 17 July 2026, BTG Pactual and its subsidiaries hold 16,516,920 common shares of Méliuz, representing 14.58% of total common equity. The bank also holds cash-settled derivatives referenced to an additional 14,086,700 shares, giving it notional economic exposure equivalent to roughly 27% of the share base.
BTG has stated the position is purely for financial operations and does not aim to change company control.
Is Vale buying back the Corumbá mines from the Batista brothers?
No Vale issued a formal market communication on 14 February 2026 stating it had evaluated the possibility and decided against any investment in the Corumbá iron-ore complex. The company emphasised that its investment decisions follow technical and governance criteria.
Any suggestion of ongoing buyback negotiations is unconfirmed and contradicted by Vale’s own filings.
What are the Batista brothers planning for their mining business?
J&F SA has hired Citigroup to sell a minority stake in LHG Mining to foreign partners, with non-binding offers already received from large miners, private equity funds, commodity traders, and steel mills. The group plans to invest 4 billion reais (approximately US$750 million) to expand production to 25 million tons annually, with new processing plants expected by 2030.
The Batistas have made clear they will only sell to international partners, not Brazilian industry peers.
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