Gafisa Detects Support from Investors

Despite pressure on Brazil and real estate generally, Gafisa’s top executives say the company does not face dire cash needs, and could access large pools of cash managed by financial investors if it needed to raise equity. “If we bring [our investors] good opportunities, there’s definitely money there,” Duilio Carciolari, Gafisa’s CFO, tells LatinFinance. Carciolari and CEO Wilson Amaral say Gafisa received support from investors at a recent board meeting. “Investors that manage $2bn-$3bn [worth of funds] are willing to invest with us,” notes Carciolari. Representatives of Chicago-based Equity International (EI), a global real estate focused fund, and New York-based Norte-Sur Partners are on the company’s board. The former has ties to large global institutional investors, many of which invest in EI and its sister companies held by investor Sam Zell’s Equity Group. EI is Gafisa’s largest shareholder with 18.7%, according to Economatica. Morgan Stanley, Marsico Capital Management and Fidelity own an additional 12.3%, 10.2% and 3.9%, respectively. On the debt side, Gafisa is not planning any new issuance, though it is considering deleveraging by divesting a portfolio of receivables worth BRL300m.