Category: People

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.

Microfinance association Accion International, whose partner institutions are mostly located in LatAm, has hired Michael Schlein as its new president and CEO. Schlein, who is expected to assume his new post in October, is president of international franchise management at Citi. Previously, he was chief of staff at the SEC. Out of Accion’s 30 partners, 23 are located in LatAm. The association is expanding its presence into Africa and Asia.

Brazilian telecom analysts may have been surprised by Vivendi’s offer for local operator GVT, but the French conglomerate’s CEO Jean-Bernard Levy says his bid makes perfect sense. Besides the fact Brazil is “one of, if not the most attractive emerging market,” it also lacks infrastructure for high speed internet and digital content, says Levy, speaking on a Wednesday call about his Brazil overture. He adds Brazil also has no triple play offerings that bundle broadband, cable television and telephone services, a product Vivendi specializes in back home. As for GVT, Levy describes it as the country’s fastest growing telecom provider. Telecom analyst Luciana Leocadio of Ativa Corretores agrees, saying that while larger and more established players such as Telefonica see average annual revenue growth of 4% or 5%, GVT’s revenue grows an average of 20% or 30% a year. GVT claims it has 4% of the Brazilian telecom market, while Telefonica says its share is 31%.

Brazil meat company Sadia says it has fired its CEO Gilberto Tomazoni and named Jose Julio Cardoso de Lucena in his place. It does not state the reasons for the replacement. Sadia in August merged with Perdigao to form Brasil Foods, but the companies will operate independently for at least a year following formal conclusion of the deal, and retain their respective chairmen and CEOs during that time.

HSBC has named Tony Murphy its new CEO for the Americas’ global banking and markets unit. Murphy is replacing Paul Lawrence, who has held this role for the past three years in addition to being CEO of HSBC Bank in the US. Starting September 14, Murphy will assume his new role, which includes LatAm. A spokeswoman says the appointment is an effort to align HSBC’s America’s strategy with its global EM strategy. In the US, Murphy will report to Lawrence, who stays on as CEO of HSBC Bank USA. He will also report to Samir Assaf, head of global markets, and Robin Phillips, head of global banking, both of whom are based in London.