Total of acquisitions doubles in Brazil
Valor Econômico - 03/10/2008
The two first months of 2008 are an example of what may happen in the market of mergers and acquisitions in Brazil. The total of operations announced in January and February is US$ 9.556 billion, more than twice the US$ 4.56 billion from the same period of last year. Meanwhile, at the global level, there was a 33.7% fall in the volume of the announced transactions, down to US$ 399.3 billion. Data are from Thomson Financial. Credit Suisse started ahead in the ranking of the banks that provided more assistance to mergers and acquisitions in January and February in Brazil. The bank assisted Eike Batista, entrepreneur of MMX Mineração e Metálicos in the negotiation with Anglo American, an Anglo-African mining company, which will start holding assets of the company. The value of the transaction, that involves the creation of a new company and the reorganization of MMX, is US$ 5.5 billion. Credit Suisse also assisted MMX in the acquisition of Minerminas - Mineradora Minas Gerais by US$ 115.625 million in seven half-yearly installments. It has also assisted J. Mendes, an iron ore exploration company in the State of Minas Gerais, in its sale to Usiminas by US$ 925 million plus an amount to be defined after the evaluation of the reserves. Also in the Brazilian ranking of January and February, Banco Itaú was the runner-up, followed by UBS and HSBC. In Latin America, UBS was in the first place, with the realization of US$ 7.166 billion. In the world, Morgan Stanley stood out by assisting US$ 88.384 billion. The figures from Thomson Financial do not include the purchase of Ática by Bradesco, by R$ 830 million (US$ 472 million), announced yesterday. Nor does it include the acquisition of Siciliano by Saraiva by R$ 60 million (US$ 34.1 million). Still underway is the negotiation for the purchase of Xstrata by Vale, an operation that would probably exceed US$ 70 billion, and the privatization of Cesp by values that might reach US$ 20 billion, in addition to the sale of Brasiliana.