Category: People

Colombia’s Colinversiones and newly acquired peer Epsa expect to invest more than $100m in domestic power generation and transmission projects, says CEO Juan Guillermo Londono tells LatinFinance. He adds that Epsa’s board has already authorized the company to issue as much as COP900bn ($453m) in local bonds to finance the development of the plants, but that an issue date has not yet been determined. The issue is rated AAA by Fitch and Bancolombia is the lead. “There is a lot of liquidity in the local market, interest rates are reasonable and there is ample appetite from investors,” Londono explains. The plants that Epsa is developing are the 20MW Amaime, in which it is investing $50m, and Tulua I and II, each generating 20MW and requiring an investment of $50m. It also has the 55MW Cucuana and the 120MW Miel II plants, but total investment has not been determined, Londono says. Amaime and Tulua are expected to become operational this year and the others should be working by 2013, the executive adds. In addition, Colinversiones is developing Termoflores IV, in which it is investing $188m, including $150m from CAF, the IFC and DEG. It is also spending $55m cash on the Hidromontanitas plant, Londono adds.

Itau Unibanco, owner of Brazil’s largest private banking network by assets under management (AUM), is plowing ahead with expansion, says CEO Celso Scaramuzza. “We expect the growth rate for the private banking market [by AUM] in Brazil this year to be 20%,” he says. The banker notes that a real increase of around 10% is on par with some of the world’s fastest expanding private banking markets, like China. With AUM of around BRL100bn equivalent and a 34% share of the Brazilian pie, according to ANBIMA, Itau Unibanco is focused on building out the domestic business further. A new area is managing money for families and shareholders that own significant or controlling stakes in Brazilian firms. Advisory products include liquidity event and strategic capital structure management, often done in conjunction with investment banking arm Itau BBA, says Scaramuzza. Among recent hires for the effort is Andrea Brandao, formerly of RBC’s Sao Paulo-based private bank, who will be a senior private banker for Itau. “We are growing the team and there will be more hires this year,” notes the executive. The bank is also looking to develop more elaborate investment products, both in fixed income, equity and structured finance, which can include a combination of assets. “We are seeing a higher demand for equity funds in Brazil,” adds Scaramuzza. Itau is also building its overseas network. With a pending license to operate in Zurich, the bank will have 3 non-LatAm main offices, including Miami and Luxembourg. In the region, units in Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay complement the bank’s retail presence in those countries. Broadly speaking, says the CEO, competition in wealth management and private bank is growing significantly in Brazil. Goldman Sachs, for one, has recently built a large new Sao Paulo-based wealth management team targeting high and ultra-high net worth individuals. BTG Pactual and Credit Suisse are meanwhile competing head to head for the number 2 slot, with close

Only Benjamin Steinbruch, the CEO and leading shareholder of CSN, knows what his next move will be in an ongoing battle to acquire a stake in Portugal’s Cimpor. In the meantime, a variety of expectations is cropping up in the analyst community following a Wednesday offer by Camargo Correa to merge its cement operations with Cimpor’s. Analysts at Banif-Ixe, believe CSN’s role may be coming to an early close. Steinbruch will more than likely refrain from placing a higher bid than the EUR5.75 per share it offered in December, according to Gilberto Cardoso, Rio-based mining analyst at Banif-Ixe, noting that the 10x Ebitda price tag is what Steinbruch said was a fair price. “I don’t see them putting the company under financial stress and raising debt to jump into cement,” says Cardoso, who covers CSN. Banif adds that the Camargo’s offer has a stronger chance of being considered seriously by the board and Cimpor shareholders, as it offers a premium to CSN and requires the company to relinquish less. Itau analysts meanwhile say that CSN’s 100% cash offer, which is more attractive for Cimpor’s shareholders, as well as the fact the new company would have lower leverage, give it an advantage. The analysts believe Steinbruch is willing to up his bid and that a new offer could come in the EUR7.30-EUR7.40 range. In any case, CSN is likely to wait and see how Cimpor reacts to Camargo. Itau notes that according to Portuguese law, CSN has the right to place the final bid since it was the first to do so. CSN is working with BES, while Camargo Correa has hired Credit Suisse and BofA-Merrill.

Citi’s LatAm head Manuel Medina-Mora has been given expanded responsibilities, including the titles of CEO for consumer banking in the Americas and chairman of Citi’s global consumer council. In the new role, Medina-Mora will oversee Citi´s retail branch network, the branded cards business and the local commercial bank in the Americas. As chairman of the newly formed consumer council, he will be responsible for global consumer strategy. He continues to be chairman and CEO of Citi LatAm and Mexico, reporting directly to Citi’s global CEO Vikram Pandit.

Wal-Mart has appointed Eduardo Solorzano president and CEO of Walmart Latin America. The former president and CEO of Walmart de Mexico will oversee operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. Solorzano was also elected chairman of the board in Mexico, whose Wal-Mart unit appointed Scot Rank president and CEO. Based in Walmart’s Latin American regional office in Miami, Solorzano will assume his new role January 18. Solorzano has led Walmart de Mexico since early 2005 and was responsible for the conception and creation of Banco Walmart. Wal-Mart plans to boost investments in Brazil by some 40% in 2010, taking advantage of prospects for robust economic expansion and growth in consumption, according to Dow Jones, which cites Hector Nunez, chief executive of Walmart Brasil. The company plans to invest the equivalent of BRL2.0-BRL2.2bn in 2010, it adds. Nunez says Brazil is one of the retailer’s most important international markets, according to the report.

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.