Category: People

Dominican Republic-based pension fund AFP Siembra is weighing investing 5%-7% of its total portfolio, worth DOP16.6bn ($450m), in local government bonds, says CEO Alvin Martinez. “This is what we would initially invest, but as our cashflow increases we will allocate more funds [to these bonds],” he tells LatinFinance. On March 1, the Dominican allowed local pension funds to invest up to 15% of their total portfolio in local government or government-guaranteed bonds. Local pension funds until now have not had the opportunity to diversify very much. As of December 2009, their portfolios were 56.8% invested in local bank paper, 37.8% in central bank paper and 5.3% in local corporate bonds, according to data from the local superintendent of pension funds and RBS. Dominica pension funds’ portfolios are worth around $3bn.

Gustavo Marin has broadened his responsibilities beyond CEO of Citi in Brazil to cover all of the bank’s businesses in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Fernando Concha has meanwhile been promoted to head all Citi’s businesses in Central America and the Caribbean, in addition to current responsibility for Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia. And Manuel Medina Mora, CEO of Citi LatAm and Mexico has tapped Raul Anaya to join Citi’s global consumer banking council, which he leads. Anaya will work with Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America and LatAm in a collaborative partnership. “Together, they will ensure consistency in the implementation of our strategy in the key global segments, and the adoption of best practices in the global consumer business,” says Medina Mora. Anaya was previously responsible for the integration of Citi’s operations in Central America. All changes are effective April 1. Citi is expected to name soon replacements for Brazil staff lost in a recent raid by Goldman Sachs.

Mauricio Botelho, CEO of Embraer from 1995-2007, has acquired a 40% stake in Arsenal Financas. The boutique is the former corporate finance arm of Arsenal, whose asset management arm was sold to hedge fund Gavea Investimentos in September. “In the context that Brazil finds itself in today there are two areas that are going to see a tremendous amount of activity: infrastructure and retail,” Botelho tells LatinFinance. He points to the strong expected investments by the government and private sectors in everything from waste management to energy, and observes an expansion in real income by Brazil’s population that will inevitably fuel high consumption in the coming years. Still, there is no particular bias at the shop to a specific type of sector or M&A transaction, adds Botelho. The executive has paid an undisclosed amount for a 41% stake in Arsenal Financas. Another 51% is owned by co-founder Jose Eduardo Lacerda, a former Credit Suisse banker, while the remainder is held by other individuals. Botelho and Lacerda are joint managing partners of the boutique, which also has another 10 bankers. “The value we bring here is our independence and lack of bias other than providing a solution to our clients,” says Botelho, in a familiar claim by boutique bankers. “We don’t do financing or proprietary trading and we don’t have a fund,” he adds. The shop has executed more than 30 deals in the past 5 years and has several live mandates, says Botelho.

Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao, the major Brazilian retailer, has appointed Eneas Cesar Pestana Neto as CEO, in line with expectations. Jose Antonio Filippo was appointed CFO and the company has removed its COO position. Pestana has been with CBD unit Grupo Pao de Acucar since 2003, while Filippo was previously CFO and IR officer at CPFL Energia. Claudio Galeazzi was appointed by CBD 2 years ago to help prepare a CEO from inside the company. Galeazzi will continue participating in and contributing to management. He will also coordinate all Galeazzi & Associados’ projects with the group, including integration of Globex and Casas Bahia. CBD operates in 18 states in all regions of Brazil and the federal district. CBD had an extremely active 2009, highlighted by the BRL870 June deal to buy Globex, the controller of the Ponto Frio chain, and the December announcement of a merger with retailer Casas Bahia.

Scotiabank’s Chile unit has issued UF4m ($160m) in 2018 local bonds, says Daniel Orellana, CEO of Scotia Sud Americano Corredores de Bolsa, which managed the sale. He adds that total demand surpassed UF6m. The bonds priced at 100.93 with a 3.20% coupon to yield 2.97%, a spread of 100bp over the 5-year central bank BCU5 bonds. Proceeds will go to strengthen working capital.

Antonio Quintella, CEO of Credit Suisse’s Brazil business and head of the Sao Paulo-based investment bank, has been appointed co-head of a new EM council made up of 15-17 bankers, many of whom are heads of business lines, regions or one of 7 EM regions that include Mexico, Brazil, Middle East, Russia, India China and Indonesia. Quintella has been selected as a permanent co-head of the council alongside Russia CEO Fawzi Kyriakos-Saad. “The council will seek to increase transaction flows not only into EM but between EM countries,” Quintella tells LatinFinance, noting a pickup in south to south investment flows. He adds another main purpose will be to better connect the bank’s internal EM staff across regions, and help local market clients access the bank’s global EM network. Quintella will remain CEO of Brazil, but relinquishes stewardship of the investment bank. Jose Olympio, head of corporate finance for Brazil and Marcelo Kayath, head of equities, will become co-heads of the investment bank.

Luis Fernando Alarcon, CEO of Colombia-based ISA is focused on diversifying away from energy transmission. “We have determined that we want to grow in other areas such as highway concessions and gas pipelines, among others,” he tells LatinFinance. “By 2016, we want 20% of our income to come from these other sectors,” Alarcon adds. ISA is in the process of finalizing the acquisition of a 60% stake in Cintra Chile from Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial for about $300m. It plans to exercise an option to buy the remaining 40%. “Cintra expects to finish its Ruta 5 project in Chile in a few months and we want to have the support of [Grupo Ferrovial] until that project is completed. After that we would begin working on acquiring the remaining stake,” Alarcon explains. ISA recently won Autopista de la Montana, 40-year concession which will require an investment of $2.5bn. Alarcon expects construction to begin in 2011. Elsewhere, ISA is developing fiber optic networks through its Intenexa unit, which already operates in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. “We aspire to connect all of South America and Central America,” Alarcon says. The diversification strategy does not entail divesting electricity transmission, the executive notes. ISA is working on an environmental impact study to build and operate an electrical interconnection line between Colombia and Panama, a project it will develop with joint venture partner Etesa of Panama. BBVA is helping ISA secure financing for the project. Alarcon says ISA has already received expressions of interest from multilaterals including the IDB, CAF and IFC, as well as private banks.

Standard Chartered has named John Leto president and CEO of its Americas private banking unit, it says. Leto is based in Miami and reports to David Stileman, CEO Americas and Marianne Hay, head of private banking for Europe, Americas and MENA. He joins from a startup private bank Alpha Capital Financial, where he was a partner, after holding different positions at Citi, including Chief administrative officer at its private bank. Leto replaces Diego Folino, who will move to another role at Standard Chartered that has not been announced yet.

JBS, the Brazilian meatpacker, plans to continue with plans to issue shares in US, though the timing of the deal has been delayed, CEO Joesley Batista told local news outlets in Sao Paulo Monday. The executive says the offering, expected to be worth $2bn, won’t occur until after the company release Q4 results and may occur during H1. The original timeline involved a placement in January 2010. JPMorgan advised JBS in its acquisition of Bertin in Brazil and Rothschild and Rabo advised it on its US acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride in Q4 2010. JBS is raising equity in the US through an IPO and in Brazil through a private share placement to help finance the deals and capitalize the companies. JBS also announced Thursday it has launched a tender offer for its 9.375% 2011 bonds, of which there are $275m outstanding. The company’s string of acquisitions last year triggered change of control clauses, forcing JBS to buy back the bonds. The buyback period goes through March 1. JBS was unavailable for comment.