Jaguar land rover puts Brazil plant on hold

Anirban Chowdhury - The Wall Street Journal, 05/31/2012

MUMBAI – Tata Motors Ltd.’s U.K.-based Jaguar Land Rover luxury car unit has put on hold plans to build a vehicle assembly plant in Brazil, spooked by economic troubles in the South American nation and globally.

“There is no clarity in terms of policy in Brazil right now,” Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover’s chief executive, said recently.

Mr. Speth in January said the company was considering an assembly facility in Brazil as part of a plan to expand in key growth markets. The company is among several global auto makers, like Daimler AG DAI.XE -1.62% and Volkswagen AG, VOW.XE -0.70% who have shifted focus to such markets to offset a demand slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.

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China’s State Grid buys Brazil power lines for $936 million

Guo Aibing – Bloomberg, 05/30/2012

China’s State Grid International Development Ltd. bought seven power transmission lines in Brazilfor 751.7 million euros ($936 million) to expand in Latin America’s biggest economy.

An agreement was signed with Spain’s ACS Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA on May 26, according to a statement posted yesterday on the website of the unit of State Grid Corp. of China. ACS units Area Industrial, Cobra, Cymi and CME will sell the lines for an enterprise value, comprising 423.4 million euros in equity and 328.3 million euros in debt, the Madrid- based company said in a statement May 28.

ACS is selling assets to pay debt as orders waned for Spanish builders following government spending cuts on infrastructure. The diminishing fortunes of debt-laden European companies are providing State Grid an opportunity to secure targets at discounted valuations. State Grid in January bought 25 percent of Portugal’s national power grid company Redes Energéticas Nacionais.

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FedEx buys Brazilian transportation, logistics company

Associated Press, 05/29/2012

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – FedEx says it will expand in Latin America with its purchase of a Brazilian transportation and logistics company.

FedEx is buying Rapido Cometa Logstica e Transportes SA, one of the largest logistics companies in Brazil. Rapido has been its authorized representative in Brazil for 11 years.

With Rapido, FedEx (FDX) is getting about 770 vehicles and trailers, approximately 9,000 workers in Brazil and 45 branches.

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Brazil Real weaker, stocks trade lower as global scenario darkens

Jeff Fick – The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires, 05/29/2012

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)–Brazil’s financial markets slid into the red in early afternoon trade Tuesday as Spain suffered a sovereign-debt downgrade and U.S. economic data disappointed investors.

Brazil’s real weakened to BRL1.9982 to the U.S. dollar before paring losses to trade at BRL1.9961 as of 1632 GMT, according to Tullett Prebon via FactSet. That was weaker from the opening fix of BRL1.9815 and Monday’s closing quote at BRL1.9778.

Stocks, which had opened higher on an improved outlook for Greece and hopes for a Chinese stimulus package, reversed course to trade lower. The benchmark Ibovespa stocks index was down 1.0% after opening 0.9% higher.

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Brazilian airlines merge to tap boom

Joe Leahy – The Financial Times, 05/29/2012

Azul, Brazil’s third-biggest airline by market share, is to merge with regional operator Trip to tap a boom in travel among the country’s rising middle classes.

The new airline, Azul Trip, will have a 15 per cent combined share of Brazil’s domestic air travel market, which is among the world’s fastest growing. No figure was disclosed for the value of the deal.

“If approved, this association will give muscle to the ambition to Brazil’s third-largest aviation company to consolidate the market,” the new partners said in a statement.

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General Electric to invest BRL 500 million in Brazil technology center

Fox Business/Dow Jones Newswires, 05/24/2012

RIO DE JANEIRO –  General Electric Co. (GE) said Thursday it will invest 500 million reais ($245.5 million) in a research-and-development center in Rio de Janeiro.

The center, which should be operational in the second half of 2013 and employ 400, will focus on development of biofuels, alternative-energy systems, intelligent systems and systems integration, particularly in the logistics area, said Ken Herd, GE’s global research center head in Brazil, at a ceremony.

Mark Little, a GE vice president, said the center also will develop subsea technologies together with clients including Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) and OGX (OGXPY, OGXP3.BR).

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General Mills to buy Brazil food co Yoki in global expansion

Kristin Jones – The WallStreet Journal/Dow Jones Newswires, 05/24/2012

General Mills Inc. (GIS) agreed to acquire privately held Brazilian food company Yoki Alimentos S.A. as it seeks to speed up its growth in that country.

The terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of the fiscal year beginning May 28, weren’t disclosed.

Yoki, a family owned company, was established in 1960 and sells snacks, including popcorn and nuts, premade meals like dry soups and side dishes, grains, beans and seasonings. The company employs more than 5,000 people, and its operating infrastructure in Brazil includes several manufacturing plants and national retail distribution.

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Most Brazil stocks drop as growth concern outweighs commodities

Ney Hayashi – Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 05/24/2012

Most Brazilian stocks fell as consumer companies slid on concern a deeper global slowdown will curb growth in Latin America’s biggest economy, outweighing gains by raw-material producers.

Consumer-goods maker Hypermarcas SA led declines by companies that sell in the local market. Mining company Vale SA, the heaviest-weighted stock on the benchmark Bovespa (IBOV) index, followed metals higher.

The Bovespa was little changed at 54,629 at 10:16 a.m. in Sao Paulo. Forty-three stocks dropped on the gauge while 22 advanced. The real weakened 0.2 percent to 2.0356 per U.S. dollar.

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Sequoia capital said to be expanding to Brazil

Vinod Sreeharsha – New York Times, 05/23/2012

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Sequoia  Capital is expanding to South America, becoming the latest Silicon Valley stalwart to tap into the region’s growing economy, according to two Brazilian investors with direct knowledge of the plans.

The venture capital firm plans to send one of its partners, David Velez, to Brazil in July to head up its regional office, likely in São Paulo. It is also seeking a research associate, said the investors, who asked to be anonymous because the plans were not finalized. Officials at Sequoia  declined to comment.

The move has apparently been in the works for over a year. Doug Leone, a Sequoia  partner,  came to Brazil in December 2010, to look for potential investments and entrepreneurs looking to expand, according to the two investors.  The firm hired Mr. Velez in 2011 to oversee South American investments.

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‘Geeks on a plane’ flock to Brazil

Shasta Darlington – CNN, 05/22/2012

Sao Paulo, Brazil– They are an exclusive group of globe-trotting Internet investors, startup founders and tech junkies.

Or you can just call them “Geeks on a Plane.”

The “Geeks on a Plane” project (yes, that’s really what it’s called), is an invite-only tour for startups, investors and executives to learn about burgeoning technology markets worldwide. Organized by 500 Startups, a Silcon Valley firm that helps fund emerging tech companies, the tour brought 42 tech insiders last week to Sao Paolo, Brazil.

“We are trying to understand what innovations are happening here… and what role investment or partnership with Brazilian companies can play in this blossoming of the Brazilian economy,” Evan Henshaw-Plath, the pony-tailed founder of startup Cubox, said upon arriving at the group’s swank downtown hotel.

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