Australian global commercial property player Goodman Group has entered into a joint venture with Brazil’s WTorre to develop and build logistics and industrial properties, it says. The Brazilian is to contribute four land sites with forecast value of $1.1bn to the 50/50 JV, known as WTGoodman. For its part, Goodman will contribute BRL341m ($167m) in initial capital. It is the first move into LatAm for Goodman, which claims $13bn under management globally in business parks, office parks, office buildings, industrial estates, logistics warehouses and distribution centers.
Category: M&A
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Brasil Foods Finds Irish Partner
Brasil Foods and Ireland’s Carbery Group have agreed to form a $50m joint venture, the companies say, investing in a new whey processing facility in Brazil. The investment, for which a name has not yet been disclosed, will employ Carbery technology to Brasil Foods’ cheese-making operations in Brazil. Construction is expected to begin immediately for the facility, which Carbery says will increase its footprint in the region. Carbery is a maker of whey-based ingredients.
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Briggs & Stratton Makes Brazil Power Grab
US-based Briggs & Stratton has agreed to acquire Brazil’s Companhia Caetano Branco for about $60m, the outdoor power equipment and generator maker says. It will make the buy using cash and existing credit, and anticipates closing within three to four months. Branco’s annual sales are reported to be about $40m, and its operating margins from 13%-17%. Briggs & Stratton sees the move as part of geographic diversification and product portfolio expansion. Selling generators, water pumps and light construction equipment, Branco has about 150 employees in Brazil. The companies declined to comment on advisors or to elaborate on the terms of the sale.
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Chilean Moves for Building Materials Supplier
Chilean forestry services provider Forestal Peumo has launched an attempt to buy up to 31% of Compania Industrial El Volcan CLP41.87bn ($87m). It is offering CLP1,800 per share for up to 23m shares in a public tender open through December 6. The full amount would give Peumo a 69% position in the Chilean building materials specialist. Bice is managing. Volcan shares were at CLP1,900 each at Tuesday’s close.
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Previ Makes RE Buys
Previ, the pension fund for Banco do Brasil employees, has agreed to acquire a shopping center and two towers in the Condominio Parque da Cidade project in Sao Paulo from Odebrecht Realizacoes Imobiliarias, for about BRL817m ($401m), the company says. The funding comes 90% from the fund’s Plano 1 vehicle and 10% from Previ Futuro, with payments to be made through 2015, keeping with the construction schedule. Six commercial towers are in the works for the development, along with two residential towers, a shopping center, hotel and park. Previ brings its real estate portfolio to more than BRL8bn with the buy.
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JBS Orders More Poultry
Brazil’s JBS has agreed to acquire Brazilian chicken products company Agroveneto for about BRL128m ($63m), the company says. The meatpacker will pay BRL10m in shares and take on Agroveneto’s debt. “The acquisition of Agroveneto complements JBS operations in this segment in Brazil,” the company says. The deal was handled with internal advisors, says a person familiar with the matter. Earlier this year, JBS entered the business in Brazil via a lease on three Frangosul – the export brand of French Groupe Doux’s Brazil – production facilities, also in the South of Brazil. The chicken sector in Brazil is seen as relatively fragmented, and rising grain prices are making economies of scale more of a necessity for processors. The Agroveneto unit is expected to add revenues of some BRL300m annually when it’s up and running. The plant is to become part of JBS Aves, which will then count four production facilities processing 1.34m birds a day.
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Codelco Reworks Mitsui Funding
Codelco has agreed to refinance terms on a loan with Mitsui, reducing its debt with the Japanese conglomerate by granting it the option to buy an additional 15.25% in their mining joint venture for $998m. In the deal, the Chilean miner’s loan has been reduced to $875m and extended to 20 years with a 3.25% interest rate. The original loan, agreed last year to help fund the purchase of a 24.5% stake in the Anglo American Sur project, was a 7.5-year facility paying Libor+2.5%. The purchase was resolved only in August of this year, following a court battle with Anglo American, who now holds a 50.1% stake in Anglo American Sur, and contested Codelco’s exercising of a decades-old purchase option.
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Nutresa Makes CentAm Buy
Colombia’s Nutresa has agreed to acquire Panamanian ice cream producer American Franchising (AFC) for $110m, it says. The purchase comes at 13.9x Ebitda, inclusive of real estate, the company points out, with the ice cream business itself is valued at 12x Ebitda. “AFC is one of the leading players in its category in the Central American region and its Ebitda margin is much higher than that of Grupo Nutresa, which will contribute positively to the Grupo Empersarial Nutresa profitability,” the company says. Nutresa operates in cold cuts, biscuits, chocolates, ice cream, coffee and pasta, and was looking for a buy in the region within its segments, says a person familiar with the deal. The company declined to comment as to how it is funding the purchase.
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Panama Mine Rejects Inmet Offer
Panamanian gold mine operator Petaquilla Minerals has voted to reject Inmet Mining’s revised buyout offer, Petaquilla says. The sweetened bid represents about 25% more than the original CAD112m ($112m) offer Inmet made in September, but the target says it “continues to fail to provide adequate value for Petaquilla shares.” Inmet is offering 0.0118 Inmet common shares and CAD0.001 for each Petaquilla share, or, alternatively up to CAD0.60 in cash or a combination of cash and shares. UBS is advising Petaquilla, and Dundee is advising Inmet. The proposal would contemplate a spinout of Petaquilla’s assets in Spain to Petaquilla holders, allowing them to keep the potential upside of Petaquilla’s only asset outside Panama. Inmet is developing the $6.2bn Cobre Panama copper-gold project, which is adjacent to Petaquilla’s Molejon gold mine.
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Canadian Ups Aeromexico Loyalty Program Stake
Canadian loyalty marketing company Aimia has agreed to increase its stake in Aeromexico’s loyalty program by 20% for $88m, Aeromexico says. Following the deal, Amia would hold 49% of Premier Loyalty & Marketing, a holdco owned by Aimia and Grupo Aeromexico for Club Premier, Grupo Aeromexico’s loyalty program. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year. Aimia first invested in PLM in 2010, and then made a second investment last year that brought it to 29%. RBC advised Aimia and Citi advised Grupo Aeromexico.