Brazil

Carrefour makes most of French M&A exceptionalism

24 March 2021

After seeing its own takeover blocked by President Emmanuel Macron, the Paris-based retailer is buying Brazil’s third-largest grocery chain. The $1.3 bln price is reasonable, and the touted savings large. Foreign expansion is more appealing than bulking up in slow-growth France.

Guest view: Consider a debt for vaccines program

9 March 2021

Such plans may help reduce currency mismatches in jab distribution, reduce the need for “new money” and avoid overloading balance sheets with unsustainable pre-existing debt. Epidemiologist Cristina Valencia and banker William Rhodes argue for piloting the idea in Latin America.

Guest view: Latin America has a Covid-19 cash gap

16 October 2020

Economic weakness has helped make the region’s health crisis one of the world’s worst, write former Citibank Chairman William Rhodes and epidemiologist Cristina Valencia. Even if a vaccine arrives, the recovery will demand more direct funding from the international community.

Three-pronged Brazil mobile assault can succeed

28 July 2020

Telecom Italia, Telefonica and America Movil have offered $3 bln to buy the wireless business of bankrupt Oi. With an established presence in Brazil, the three have an edge over a rival private equity offer. With the price already full, however, a bidding war could get costly.

Brazil’s tax reform is too little, too late

23 July 2020

The economy minister just proposed a simplified 12% VAT – part one of a much-needed tax reform. Passage would be a positive step, but small potatoes on its own – especially as its economy could shrink by almost 8%. The window for big-time economic reform may have closed.

Fintech superstars face brutal financial comedown

3 June 2020

Digital banks like Chime and Monzo have millions of customers but are tackling their first big crisis with scant revenue. Online lenders from Kabbage to Klarna face rising defaults, less new business, and funding concerns. Valuations, business models, even survival, look shaky.

Brazil’s finance minister: right place, wrong time

4 May 2020

Chicago-trained Paulo Guedes helped achieve needed pension reform and topped privatization goals. But Covid-19 torpedoed plans to shrink the state’s role in the economy, and presidential chaos has undermined his efforts. His agenda is mostly dead, so he’ll probably jump ship.

Investors’ Brazil dream becomes nightmare

13 March 2020

The former market darling’s currency has shed over 16% of its value versus the U.S. dollar this year, and its stock market is among the worst-performing in the world. Its trade position is weakening. And neither Brazil's central bank nor its president have good policy options.

Vale dam cleanup hints at miners’ rising ESG bill

21 January 2020

The world’s top iron ore producer faces criminal charges for a deadly 2019 dam collapse. It has spent billions on reparations and safety upgrades, and seen its share price stumble. The total financial hit is yet to become clear, but other resources firms will face reckonings too.

Trump’s soybean dream can be crushed

8 January 2020

The U.S. president says China could soon buy as much as $50 bln in farm products from American farmers, including more of the oilseed. But the U.S. doesn’t have the beans, and Brazil’s currency offers a better value. The weakened U.S. agriculture trade could struggle to return.

Brazil’s $15 bln brokerage IPO is so retro

11 December 2019

Upstart XP is the year’s fourth-largest U.S. listing. It can still charge real fees in its cozy market, just like U.S. brokers in the good old days. Falling rates should keep new customers coming. And Brazil looks less prone to the competitive havoc that beset American peers.

Dearth of oil bids is mostly about Brazil, not oil

7 November 2019

Landmark auctions for offshore deposits elicited virtually no international interest, with state-run Petrobras putting up most bids. Oil market ructions are making global majors think twice about big investments. But the main problem is Brasilia’s inability to stop meddling.

Brazil’s basket-case telco is not quite dead yet

7 November 2019

Oi, the country’s largest fixed-line carrier, has been making investors kvetch for years. Rivals are now sniffing around its assets. An upcoming earnings report is likely to show the company, crawling out of a restructuring, needs more than a cash infusion. It needs a miracle.

Macri’s likely defeat a warning to LatAm reformers

25 October 2019

Argentines are expected to oust would-be reformer Mauricio Macri in Sunday’s elections, which follow weeks of violent protests across the region. In the post-commodity-boom era, Latin American reformers need to find a new identity that is neither leftist nor too austere.

Viewsroom: WeWork’s future may lie in China’s past

24 October 2019

Beijing-based Kr Space switched from renting out space held on long-term leases to selling services after the shared-office market crashed. Following suit may help WeWork stem losses. Also: climate change and Canada’s election. Plus: the gloomy IMF and unrest in Latin America.

Bolsonaro’s epic pensions victory may be his last

23 October 2019

Brazil’s president has secured a budget-saving $195 bln overhaul of the country’s retirement program. It’s a success that eluded plenty of his predecessors. But the far-right leader’s low approval ratings and endless controversies may make tax and spending reforms a tougher slog.

Guest view: Finance can put out rainforest fires

17 September 2019

The burning Amazon has sparked international concern, tension between Brazil and Europe, but no solutions. One remedy, argue execs at the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, is for big firms to pay landowners to keep the forests and use the investment to offset their own pollution.

Telco M&A gets rare regulatory boost in Brazil

16 September 2019

The country may treat operators including Oi, which is in bankruptcy protection, with a lighter touch. That gives local units of Telefonica and Telecom Italia reason to pounce. Official support for M&A is a welcome relief from the constraints facing their European parents.

UBS Brazil JV would avoid repeat of disaster movie

9 September 2019

The Swiss lender may pool investment-banking resources with Banco do Brasil, a decade after selling BTG Pactual in a crisis-induced hurry. Contributing cross-border skills while the local bank takes balance-sheet risk should boost UBS's profile – and minimise political dangers.

Growing money on trees beats fossil-fuel returns

30 August 2019

Reforestation improves the management of water, soil and crops as well as storing carbon. It can also yield investment returns higher than Exxon and most of the other top 100 emitters of greenhouse gases manage. Especially with the Amazon rainforest ablaze, it merits top billing.