Camargo Correa to Buy Votorantim’s CPFL Energia Stake

Francisco Marcelino and Laura Price-Bloomberg, 01/30/2009
Camargo Correa SA agreed to pay Grupo Votorantim 2.56 billion reais ($1.12 billion) for the 50 percent it doesn´t already own of VBC Energia SA, a holding company which has 28 percent of power supplier CPFL Energia SA.
The purchase will be completed by Feb. 20, VBC said in a [...]

Rio Tinto to sell assets to Vale for $1.6bn

Peter Smith-Financial Times, 01/30/2009
Rio Tinto has struck a deal to sell assets in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay for $1.6bn in a move that will help the indebted Anglo-Australian mining group achieve its target of reducing borrowings by $10bn in 2009.
The assets – including a potash project in Argentina, and the Corumbá iron ore mine in [...]

Brazil Loan Defaults Rise to 6-Year High on Slowdown

Telma Marotto and Katia Cortes-Bloomberg, 01/27/2009
Brazilian loan defaults surged last month to the highest since September 2002 as Latin America’s largest economy slowed and the credit crisis increased borrowing costs, making it more difficult for consumers to repay debt.
The default rate on personal loans in Brazil increased to 8.1 percent in December from 7.8 [...]

Brazil’s Lula, Obama to work on trade, biofuels

Reuters, 01/26/2009
President Barack Obama wants to work with Brazil on biofuels and pledged to advance global trade talks as a way to stoke economic growth, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s spokesman said on Monday.
Lula and Obama spoke by phone for about 25 minutes and agreed to meet in March in Washington, Lula spokesman Marcelo [...]