Category: People

Brazilian pulp and paper giant Suzano is planning a $2bn expansion of its cellulose capacity, CEO Antonio Maciel tells LatinFinance. The project, which is likely to be announced in the coming months, should add two new lines of cellulose, Maciel says. Financing for the initiative will be done with cash on hand, suppliers and export credit agencies. The new project, along with Mucuri, which is already underway, will help Suzano boost cellulose production to 1.7m tons by 2009, from 974,000 tons in the last 12 months, says the company.

NET, the Brazilian pay-TV provider, is close to acquiring BIGTV, a national network with customer bases in several Brazilian cities around the country, CEO Jose Antonio Felix tells LatinFinance. The purchase will cost NET roughly $200m, says the CEO, who adds that the acquisition is part of a plan to grow the customer base. The deal is expected to be sealed by July. NET has annual revenues of BRL3.0bn, while BIGTV’s are BRL100m, according to a December 31 filing. JPMorgan advised NET on the transaction.

The newly merged Brazilian exchange BM&F Bovespa said late Tuesday its board has selected Gilberto Mifano to be president and Edemir Pinto to be CEO. Mifano is the former CEO of the Bovespa and Pinto is the former CEO of the BM&F. The combined exchange is the third largest by market cap and LatAm’s biggest.

LatAm ABS specialist Michael Lucente has resurfaced in Indonesia three months after quitting Merrill Lynch following a 10-year stint there. He has been appointed CEO at PT Bakrie & Brothers, an Indonesian company with interests ranging from property to telecommunications, reporting to president director Nalinkant Rathod. But that does not mean Lucente, who will continue to be based in New York, is leaving LatAm. “We are very interested in investments in the region,” the banker tells LatinFinance. “Several are under consideration,” he adds. PT Bakrie has holdings with a current market value of more than $6bn. At Merrill, Lucente was responsible for EM structured finance and held various senior positions, most recently MD, principal finance.

Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GISSA) has named Adan Elizondo Elizondo chairman of the board and CEO. He has been a member of GISSA’s board since 1991 and has served on the boards and management teams of several Mexican companies. Ernesto Lopez de Nigris was meanwhile appointed COO of the foundry division, which includes the Cifunsa and Technocast operations. GISSA also names Juan Carlos Lopez Villarreal as COO of the construction division, which includes the ceramic tile, water heaters and housewares operations.

Brazil’s second largest sugar and ethanol company, SantelisaVale, is readying an IPO it hopes to be ready to launch as early as the second half of this year, CEO Anselmo Rodrigues tells LatinFinance. “We are preparing the company so that when the market reopens, we’ll be ready to go,” says Rodrigues, adding that a transaction could take place in the second half. Through a merger with Vale do Rosario last year, Santelisa shot up to the number two spot in Brazil by crushing capacity, behind only Cosan. Bradesco BBI – which wrote a BRL1.35bn check to Santelisa’s main shareholders days before the Vale do Rosario acquisition was signed – is expected to lead the equity offering. The remaining banks are yet to be decided on, says Rodrigues. Goldman Sachs purchased a 19% stake in Santelisa for BRL400m in July 2007.

Shareholder Marcos Adolfo Tadeu Senamo Amaro and Alexandre Goncalves Silva, former CEO of General Electric in Brazil, were elected to the board of directors of Brazilian airline TAM at its ordinary general assembly. There were no other changes to the board, TAM says.

The launch of the Caribbean Exchange Network, which connects the exchanges of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, has been delayed by several months, Marlon Yarde, CEO and general manager of the Barbados Stock Exchange tells LatinFinance. An original launch date was set for this month, but members are now shooting for the end of Q3. The exchanges submitted a proposal for the linkup to their respective regulators and since then, very little has happened, says Yarde. The joint platform would bring a much needed critical mass to markets in the area, encouraging “more activity in the markets, improved liquidity, better prices and more opportunity for investors to create wealth,” says Yarde. A second phase of implementation would allow the exchange to create an international gateway to facilitate trading from institutional investors, and also incorporate other Caribbean exchanges, he says.

Luis Pena, who stepped down Tuesday as CEO of Mexico’s Banorte, has been named CEO of HSBC Mexico. Pena replaces Paul Thurston, who will return in May to the UK to run retail and commercial operations. Thurston also served as co-head of LatAm with HSBC Brazil CEO Emilson Alonso, who will in May be promoted to sole head. Shaun Wallis will take over from Alonso as Brazil CEO.