Brazil attracts half of mergers in Bric
Valor Econômico
Brazil, among the countries of the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China), is the one that attracted most operations of international mergers and acquisitions this year, reflecting the interest of global companies in assuring their presence on its market. The operations that had Brazil as target involved US$ 61.1 billion between January and last week, representing 46.6% of the agreements in the Bric, according to a survey of the Londoner data provider Dealogic, obtained by Valor. They were 196 deals in the country. In comparison, China attracted 798 operations, but with lesser value, US$ 45.2 billion. One-fourth, that is US$ 14.4 billion, of what went to Brazil was capital from other Bric countries. In the group, China was the country that most invested in other Bric countries so far, nearly US$ 13.6 billion. According to Dealogic, Brazil overcame the USA in attraction together with other emerging countries and it only stayed behind Italy. The scenario is fairly different from last year's, when the country did not even stay among the top ten and the USA was the second, only behind Switzerland, as a destination of investments of the BRIC.
Analysts highlight the US$ 4.9 billion operation between Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan, the acquisition by Norski of assets of Vale for US$ 4.9 billion, the announcement of the Chinese Sinopec of investing US$ 7.1 billion in Brazil through Repsol, the merger of TAM with the Chilean LAN with a combined income of US$ 8.4 billion, besides the billionaire negotiations of Portugal Telecom and Telefônica.
The quest for the Brazilian market grew nearly six times compared to 2009, when the value until November was at US$ 11.7 billion, with 95 deals and participation of 23.7% in the Bric. China, which had 50.7% participation in the same period, has now fallen to 34.5%. Analysts note that those operations facilitate the control of intellectual property and technology, develops the access in dynamic markets, and assures the supply of raw materials. Altogether, the operations targeting the Bric countries reached US$ 131.2 billion this year, compared to US$ 49.7 billion in the same period last year. The Bric countries also seek, more and more, making acquisitions abroad and in great part in other emerging countries. These operations of Brazil, Russia, China and India amounted to US$ 118.3 billion until November.