Category: People

Brazilian meatpacker JBS is moving closer to clinching $2.5bn through the private placement of shares, according to local news agencies that cite Joesley Batista, the company’s CEO. The deal will likely be announced in the coming 30 days, adds the executive, who spoke to analysts and reporters at a conference in Brazil. Executives close to the process have said the raise will probably include JBS’s existing shareholders. That could include the BNDES, which is among the largest investors and has openly supported JBS’s domestic acquisitions. In addition to the private sale, JBS is still planning to IPO its US unit in a deal that could raise around $2bn in a targeted January 2010 offering. The company this year became the country’s largest beef specialist by acquiring Bertin in Brazil and Pilgrim’s Pride in the US, whose combined debt load is worth $4.3bn. JPMorgan has advised JBS on its Brazil acquisition while Rothschild and Rabo assisted in its US deals.

The Coca-Cola Company plans to almost double its Brazil investment, to BRL11bn in 2010-2014, according to chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent. “Brazil is one of the Coca-Cola Company’s top markets worldwide,” says Kent, who was in Brazil to open Coke’s first environmentally friendly plant in LatAm. “Over the past 25 years, our sales volume in the nation grew by 50-fold,” he adds. From 2005 to 2009, Coke’s investment totaled BRL6bn and the company says the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games present further opportunities for growth.

The Washington DC-based Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (Empea) has appointed Sev Vettivetpillai, CEO of Aureos Advisers, to its board of directors. Vettivetpillai has mare than15 years of EM PE investment experience. Under his direction, Aureos, which focuses on small and mid-cap segment investment has increased funds under management to more than $1.2bn and has established 16 regional private equity funds. Empea has more than 265 members in 80 countries.

Microfinance institution Grameen Foundation has appointed Guatemala native Alberto Solano as regional CEO for the Americas, based in Nicaragua. Solano has more than a decade of experience in microfinance, principally in LatAm, and was most recently the LatAm VP for Global Partnerships, a microfinance company. Grameen plans to focus on increasing access to microfinance and technology for the poor in the region, and exploring avenues for using microfinance as a platform for delivering other services to them such as healthcare and education. In Mexico alone, where Grameen recently entered a joint venture with Grupo Carso, it has about 300 borrowers, according to Grameen president Vidar Jorgensen, who adds that the institution’s goal is to reach 100,000 borrowers in five years in that country. Its programs in Costa Rica and Guatemala have about 7,600 and 14,700 borrowers respectively, he says.

Ultrapar, the Brazilian fuel and gas specialist, hopes to increase ownership of the fuel distribution business in the northeast, central west, and northern regions of Brazil, Pedro Wongtschowski, CEO, tells LatinFinance. “It will be a combination of organic and acquisitive growth,” says the executive. “We don’t have a [specific] budget for acquisitions,” he adds. Wongtschowski notes that he would also not look to hire financial advisors for those purchases since his company’s internal executives know the market well. Earlier this year Ultra completed its acquisition of Texaco’s distribution assets in Brazil, which gave it a 22% share of the Brazilian distribution market, says Wongtschowski. In the south and southeast, the company’s share is 28% while in the northeastern and central regions it is only 9%, says the executive. The company would expect to pay for any new acquisitions with cash. Ultrapar cash and cash equivalents stood at BRL1.6bn in Q2. Leverage is 2x, says the CEO. As for acquiring larger competitors, the executive says he does not see any major distribution assets up for sale in Brazil.

Cosan’s CEO and leading shareholder Rubens Silveira Mello is resigning as CEO and becoming the chairman of the board, according to the company. The move is driven by his desire to focus on the managing the company’s strategic trajectory, and less on the day to day running of the sugar and ethanol giant, says Cosan. Marcos Marinho Lutz, Cosan’s commercial and logistics VP, will become the new CEO, effective November 1.

Zurich has named Brazilian Peter Rebrin as the CEO of its LatAm unit, replacing Jaime Paredes, who stepped down in May. Rebrin, who will be based in Miami, will oversee Zurich’s general and life insurance businesses in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. He will report to Paul N. Hopkins, CEO of the Americas region. Rebrin joined Zurich in 1999.

Canada-based Chariot Resources, a junior copper miner with operations in Peru, is seeking a buyer for the whole company, CEO Ulrich Rath tells LatinFinance. He explains that the company, which has a market cap of about CAD125m, needs about $740m to build infrastructure at its Mina Justa mine and bring it to production, but that it has not been able to find financing. Rath says a likely buyer could be a larger miner that could bolt-on Chariot to its operations. The executive adds that a financial advisor has not been hired. Canada’s Lundin Mining, which holds an 18.3% stake in Chariot and is its largest shareholder, says it is not interested in acquiring the Mina Justa mine or Chariot as a whole.