An Usiminas official denied rumors that the company’s long-standing CEO Rinaldo Soares would be stepping down after a shareholder’s assembly in May. Contacted by LatinFinance, the official, who asked not to be named, dismissed the rumors as untrue, declining to comment further. A report in Brazilian paper Valor Wednesday speculates Soares will be replaced by Marco Antonio Castello Branco, an executive at the Brazilian subsidiary of French steelmaker Vallourec-Mannesmann.
Yearly Archives: 2008
Posted inDaily Brief
Correction
In the March 18 brief titled “Credit Suisse ECM Head Jumps to Merrill” we incorrectly stated the date of Sebastien Chatel’s departure from UBS. He left the firm in March of 2007.
Posted inDaily Brief
Ethanol Players Target $1.5bn Pipeline
Brazilian ethanol producer Cosan announced a new joint venture with Copersucar and Crystalsev to create Uniduto Logistica, a new company that will develop, build and operate an ethanol pipeline network. The project, which Bradesco BBI estimates will cost $1.5bn, will connect the interior city of Paulinia to a port terminal on the coast of the state of Sao Paulo, with branches to the cities of Conchas and Ribeirao Preto. The three leads have extended invitations to other ethanol companies in Brazil, including Petrobras, to partner in this project.
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Fenosa to Build Costa Rica Hydro Plant
Union Fenosa has won a 20-year contact from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute to build and operate a 50MW hydroelectric plant. Fenosa did not provide financial details, but said the contract is similar in size to another Costa Rican hydro plant in which it is investing EUR80m. Construction is expected to take three years.
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Brazilian Clothier Acquires Peer
Brazil’s AMC Textil has agreed to acquire 100% of fellow clothing maker and retailer Grupo TF. AMC did not disclose the price it paid for the maker of the Forum brands, but local media reported a value around BRL250m, citing sources close to the deal. Bradesco advised on the sale.
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Telmex to Sell MXP Debt
Telefonos de Mexico has filed plans for a new fixed- and floating-rate bond offering under the MXP10bn shelf it filed in December. No information was given on the size or the tenor of the transaction, which it expects to place in April. Inbursa is managing the sale.
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Vision Sees Portfolio Equity Spinoff
Vision, the Sao Paulo-based asset manager, is planning to sell equity in productive land assets, potentially through both the public and private markets. It has mandated a bank to bring a first tranche this year, Amaury Junior, founder of Vision, tells LatinFinance. Banks who pitched the deal in February said it would fetch $800m-$1.7bn, according to Junior, who predicts that it is worth more than $1bn. “We have several banks proposing IPOs of our portfolio, transforming them into a company,” says Junior. The lead, which Junior declines to name, is committing prop money to the deal. A first phase of equity issuance is planned in Q2-Q3 2008 and may go private, depending on market conditions. A public issue is anticipated mid-2009 and the issuer will be an agricultural land development company. Besides land that Vision owns, the assets include revenue from operators – producers of cattle, ethanol and biofuels – who rent it, and financing to them. “It’s more than real estate,” says Junior. “There’s a carry that is very attractive out of the renting and finance – on top of that I have the potential land appreciation,” he adds. Vision is positioning more in real assets, including agriculture, energy and real estate. “Investors have a preference, in particular now, for assets that have this type of risk profile,” says Junior. Vision, which also has hedge funds and does real asset securitization, has roughly $1.8bn in illiquid and approximately $1.5 in liquid assets under management. All is from North American and European long term investors.
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Credit Suisse to Replace ECM Chief
Credit Suisse will likely replace Sabastien Chatel, its departing head of ECM, in the coming several weeks, according to officials at the firm. Internal executives and outside candidates will be considered for the role, they say. Chatel is leaving Credit Suisse to co-head LatAm ECM at Merrill Lynch after having spent under a year at the former. While Credit Suisse executives downplayed Chatel’s departure, emphasizing his short time at the helm of the regional franchise and CS’s dominance prior to his arrival, the shop is heard to have considered matching Chatel’s Merrill offer to keep him. Still, the consensus remains that Credit Suisse’s ECM platform is a solid, multi-tiered effort that relies on strong regional relationships for its business. One departure is unlikely to derail that momentum. But an externally driven market downturn like the one LatAm is experiencing today is sure to shrink ECM revenues, and the shops with the biggest dedicated staffs might be the first to feel the pinch.
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Falabella Unit Sells Local Bonds
Sodimac, a unit of Chilean retailer Falabella, priced CLP29.69bn ($68m) in 2012 notes denominated in the UF inflation-linked unit, it said Wednesday. The notes priced at 98.70 to yield 2.80%. IM Trust managed the sale.
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Skadden to Open Sao Paulo Office
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is opening a Sao Paulo office in the coming three months. The group, to be headed by partner Jonathan Bisgaier, will focus on cross border transactions, M&A, corporate finance, and private equity, among other things. “We’ve had a dedicated practice group focused on Brazil for almost 20 years,” Paul Schnell, senior partner and head of LatAm practice at the firm, tells LatinFinance. Until now, however, that group has been based in New York. “Sao Paulo has in recent years developed into a very stable, vibrant, increasingly important financial center so we thought we could better serve our clients by being there”, he adds. Skadden has worked on a number of large M&A operations such as the sale of Pactual to UBS, the merger of Santelisa and Vale do Rosario, and the Bovespa’s IPO.