12/01/2008 12h01
English fund Actis reserves almost US$ 444 million for Brazil
Valor Econômico 12/01/2008
English private equity fund Actis, specialized in purchasing interest in companies, is ready to close the first deals in Brazil. The fund manager announces today, in London, the creation of its third fund, with a capital of US$ 2.9 billion raised amid the greatest financial crisis in decades. The fund will be Actis' first one to have part of the funds dedicated to Brazil, which will have almost R$ 1 billion (US$ 444 million). So far, the manager, with more than 60 years of experience, only invested in China, India, Africa and Southeast Asia. Actis belonged to the British government. In 2004, it was privatized and its own officers started managing the fund's operations. Out of the raised US$ 2.9 billion, US$ 450 million are set aside for Latin-American countries, 70% to 80% of which shall be allocated in Brazil. Chu Kong and Patrick Ledoux, responsible for the operations of Actis in Latin America, say Brazil is the focus of the manager in the region, because of the country's growth potential. The operational base will be in São Paulo, with a staff of six people. Even before officially ending the raising of the funds, the manager is already arranging the first investments in the country. According to Ledoux, negotiations are fairly advanced with three companies. Actis' policy is to invest at least US$ 50 million per company, which means the manager seeks companies in a more advanced stage of development. The goal is to invest the funds in eight to ten Brazilian companies. Depending on the company and the sector, the investment can be minor or the fund can assume control. The managers say that there are four sectors of priority for the investments. Financial services, consumption goods, health and education. That does not rule out investments in companies from other sectors with growth potential. The fund works with a term of investments that varies from 3 to 7 years. This is Actis' third fund and the objective is to invest in up to 40 companies. In the last 10 years, they invested more than US$ 3 billion in 154 companies in 42 countries. The manager has 13 offices in 11 countries.
