Banco Master raises capital to bolster finances after blocked sale

Brazil’s Central Bank on Monday (13) approved two capital increases totaling nearly R$840 million for companies within Daniel Vorcaro’s Master financial group, which has been under pressure to restore liquidity and avoid regulatory intervention.

The capital injection included R$421 million into Banco Master Múltiplo (formerly Banif), raising its capital base to R$1.58 billion, and R$419 million into Will Bank, bringing its capital to R$789 million. Banco Master declined to comment.

Mr. Vorcaro has been selling off assets to strengthen the group’s balance sheet. He recently sold insurance firm Kovr and is neobtainediating a sale of Will Bank. Valor has learned that the newly approved capital increases already include funds from the Kovr transaction. Media reports suggest that a group of investors interested in Will Bank includes television host Luciano Huck.

Meanwhile, Banco Master continues to sell compact portions of its loan portfolio, as new credit origination has slowed, and is also attempting to sell more court-ordered government debt (precatórios) claims.

According to Central Bank’s IFData, Will Bank posted a R$244.7 million loss in the first half of the year. The digital bank has R$14.36 billion in assets, of which R$2.30 billion are loans, and R$14.06 billion in liabilities, including R$6.92 billion in deposits.

Will Bank was founded in 2017 when entrepreneur Felipe Félix joined Avista, a consumer finance company, and persuaded the Piana family to back the creation of a digital bank. In 2024, Master acquired the institution in a joint deal with Reag, the investment firm led by João Carlos Mansur. Reag took over the payment institution license, while Mr. Vorcaro retained the lconcludeing arm.

Valor’s business news website Pipeline reported that Banco Master has roughly R$1 billion in time deposits (CDBs) maturing over the next 30 days, coinciding with the conclude of a grace period granted by Brazil’s Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC).

(Silvia Rosa contributed reporting.)