South American Business Information back issues from Monday, July 19:
Brazilian government budget is reduced.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Brazilian government has not budgeted for this year the US$7.5mil investments it is supposed to make in the ISS, the international space station. The delay may cause problems to Nasa's schedule. Officials atthe Ministry of Science and Technology stated that that amount will be ...
Brazil: Ecia to build new shopping in Rio de Janeiro.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Ecia group will invest R$30mil to build the Center Shopping Rio shopping center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The construction works have already started and will be finished until April, 2001. The shoppingwill cover an area of some 460,000 consumers who are to generate R$1bil sales ...
Brazilian retail trade sector was changed by supermarkets mergers.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Due to the recent acquisitions and mergers of supermarkets in Brazil, the retail trade sector has now the price negotiation power. The 6 major supermarket chains in Brazil - Carrefour (plus Planaltao and Roncetti), Pao de Acucar (plus Paes Mendonca), Bompreco (plus Peti Preco), Sonae ...
Brazil: Petrobras to purchase manifolds from CBV.
Jul 19, 1999 ... CBV, controlled by FMC Energy System, will supply Petrobras with manifolds that will be used on the Roncador oilfield located in Campos, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Petrobras declined to inform the amount of money involved in the contract. The equipment will be delivered by CBV ...
Brazil: Seara focuses on exports; Macedo Koerich to grow business.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Seara Alimentos of Brazil will focus on poultry exports in order to grow its meat business. The company's goal is to increase its poultry exports by 10% - the poultry segment represents 45% of the company's overall meat production of 430,000 tons per year. Seara has been investing ...
Brazil: Belgo Mineira makes public offer for 10% stake in Cimaf.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian iron & steel company Belgo Mineira (CSBM) will make a public offer to acquire a 10.4% stake in Cimaf from minority holders - BancoSul America holds 5.2% and Unibanco Bank Trust, 1.9%. Cimaf's stocks are priced at R$0.10346 per share. Belgo Mineira aims to acquire 17.4mil ...
Brazil: Multibras reported profit of R$3.5mil in 2nd quarter.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian household appliances manufacturer Multibras reported profit of R$3.5mil in the 2nd quarter of 1999. However, the company accumulates losses of R$70.9mil, so far - in the 1st quarter, it reported losses of R$74.4mil because of the Real devaluation. Its sales fell 3.6% in the ...
Brazil: Tatra negotiates plant construction.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Tatra of the Czec Republic plans to build an off-road trucks producing plant in the State of Bahia, Brazil. It may form a joint venture with a local group, or even sell the Brazilian subsidiary, in order to carryout the project - Ford may be contacted due to the political problems ...
Argentina: Venture capital seeks opportunities.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Venture capital is seeking opportunities in the Argentinean seeking companies that have a potential for innovation, with the most recently deal stroke being the acquisition of a 35% stake in the Internet portal El Sitio for which it was paid US$44mil. Other cases of venture ...
Argentina: Rumors persist on the acquisition of Perez Companc.
Jul 19, 1999 ... After the acquisition of YPF by Repsol, two other Argentinean oil companies are the likely target for future acquisitions, Perez Companc and Petrolera San Jorge. Perez, that floats capital in the stock market, has several associations with YPF, such as the Puesto Hernandez area, a gas ...
Peru: The privatization of Biabo forestry.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Peruvian government is organizing in August a road show to privatize the Biabo forest, spread over 631,000 ha of land in the departments of Loreto, San Martin, and Ucayali, Northeastern Peru. There are seven international prospective bidders for the concession to ...
Argentina: Battle to win the telecoms market.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Telefonica, Telecom, Movicom, and CTI, has triggered a battle to win customers for long distance services in Argentina, aiming to win the 20% of the 7mil subscribers to telephone services, that constitute the top of the market (corporations, high consumption households). Previous ...
Argentina: Pezcalandia seeks acquisition of Ventura.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Pezcalandia Argentina, retailer of camping & fishing utensils, is actively negotiating the acquisition of the consumer electronics & household appliances retail trade chain Ventura, put for sale by its controller Ceteco that hired Ernst & Young to coordinate the selling off process. A ...
Brazil: Brahma failed to comply with Cade's norms.
Jul 19, 1999 ... After 1 year of the association between Miller and the Brazilian beverages company Brahma, the latter has not complied with Cade's norms yet. Cade, the national anti-monopolies commission, had authorized last year the association between the 2 beverage companies as long as Brahma ...
CLSA penetrates into Brazilian market.
Jul 19, 1999 ... CLSA Global Emerging Markets formed a joint venture with the Brazilian bank BCN in order to operate in the local securities brokerage market.The new company, CLSA BCN Brazil, managed by the partners on a 50-50 basis, will become the starting point for future operations in Latin ...
Brazil: six groups will bid for Paranapanema.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Six groups yesterday complied with legal procedures in order to qualify for bidding for the Sao Paulo-based power generating company Paranapanema, whose privatization auction is scheduled for July 28, 1999. The pre-qualified groups will be disclosed next week. Paranapanema was created ...
Brazil: Intercitrus exports juice extractors.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Intercitrus Agro-Industrial, based in Araraquara, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil has been exporting orange juice extractors equipment to the US since last December. The equipment was developed for retailers, but the company considers the possibility of developing an industrial equipment in ...
Brazil: Cerveceria Regional do not fear AmBev.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Venezoelan beer company Cerveceria Regional, owned by the Cisneros group, disregarded the merger of the Brazilian beverage companies Brahma and Antarctica due to the time it will take to be absorbed in Brazil, which will therefore prevent the new beverage giant AmBev to acquire Latin ...
Brazil: Ferronorte takes out R$200mil loan.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian railroad company Ferronorte, controlled by Ferropasa, will take out a R$200mil loan from the Amazon investment fund Finam in order to build a new railway in the Amazon region as of next September. Ferronorte's shareholders should invest other R$200mil with their own capital ....
Brazil: Serveng built automotive sales facility in Sao Paulo.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Serveng group of Brazil will invest R$12mil in the Complexo Automotivo Alpasa motor vehicles sale complex located in Sao Jose dos Campos, State of Sao Paulo. The complex will offer 3 car brands: Mercedes Benz, Chrysler and Toyota. It started up partially last January by offering ...
Brazil: Tramontina to increase exports to Mexico.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Tramontina of Brazil exported US$4mil kitchen hardware to Mexico last year and predicts to export some US$5mil this year. Tramontina's Houston-based distribution facility in the US is to export some more US$2mil to Mexico this year. Tramontina's global exports amount to US$100mil per ...
Brazil: Light will invest in co-generation projects.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian electric power distributor Light considers developing 16 co-generation energy projects that will demand overall investments of R$180mil. The company's goal is to use natural gas to produce power energy and other by-products, like hot water, steam and carbon dioxide to fire ...
Brazil: Coelba hindered stock issuance.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazil: Bahia-based electric utility Coelba, controlled by Guaraniana, teamed by Banco do Brasil, Iberdrola and Previ, interrupted yesterdaythe issue of its stocks at the Sao Paulo stock exchange Bovespa, where its common stocks rose 20% this week to R$54. Analysts say that the move ...
Brazil: Ford analyzes transportation logistics.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Ford's new Camacari-based plant in the State of Bahia will change Brazil's transportation logistics, since the company will benefit from the fact that the trucks that transport cars from the southeastern tothe northeastern region of the country return empty and, therefore, the cargo ...
Brazil: Yazigi merged with American group.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Yazigi International of Brazil has recently merged with EIE (Excellence in Education) of the US. The move demanded investments of R$1mil in consulting services. The 2 firms will adopt a new tradename as of January, 2000: Yazigi-InterNexus, which will have its capital opened by ...
Brazil: Antonini transfers production to Minas Gerais.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian motor vehicle bodies manufacturer Antonini, which posted a turnover of R$25mil last year, will transfer its production from Sao Paulo, where it owns 2 plants in Guarulhos and 1 in Campinas, to Careacu, State of Minas Gerais, where the company will invest R$15mil to build a ...
Brazil: Sadia to lift exports.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian meat company Sadia aims to increase its value-added products export in order to grow its business. The company's goal is to increase the share of such products in the global exports from the current 10% to50% in 5 years time. Its 1998 global exports totaled US$391mil. In ...
Brazil: Eletropaulo to build thermoelectric plant.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian power distribution company Eletropaulo Metropolitana will build a natural gas-fired thermoelectric plant in Santa Branca, State of Sao Paulo. Having a production capacity of 1,000 MW, the plant will demand investments of US$600mil. The company's goal is to reduce theamount ...
Brazil: Alianca formed joint venture with Libra-CSAV.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Alianca Navegacao of Brazil formed a joint venture with the Libra-CSAV consortium in order to provide water cargo transportation servicesbetween South America and Europe. The new company, Magellan Service, will operate 3 ships every month that will start sailing from Brazil, pass by ...
Brazil: Ciber to export equipment to the US.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian road construction equipment manufacturer Ciber Equipamentos Rodoviarios, controlled by Wirtgen, will export five machines worth US$1.5mil to the US. The machines were previously exported to the US from Germany by Wirtgen. Ciber may also export to Europe in the future. The ...
Brazil: Eni to bid for gas concessions in Sao Paulo.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Eni will bid for gas concessions in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The next auction is scheduled for October 25, 1999. It is related to an area that includes Ribeirao Preto, Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Araraquara, Sao Carlos and Aracatuba. After that auction, the next one, concerning an arealocated ...
Brazilian banks' 1998 assets performance.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Due to the Real stabilization plan, large banks increased their assets in Brazil, while medium-sized banks' assets were reduced. Analysts saythat only the banks with clear business focus will be competitive, while the others will have to associate to foreign groups in order not to be ...
Brazil: Eletrocar to be privatized by end July.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Electric utility company Eletrocar, based in Carazinho, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil will be privatized on July 30, 1999. Eletrocar, a small-sized power energy generating and distribution company, operates in 6 cities located in the northern region of the state. The ...
Brazil: refrigeration equipment and parts manufacturers face.
Jul 19, 1999 ... According to the Brazilian machinery and equipment manufacturers association Abimaq, the national industrial refrigeration equipment sector generated sales of US$400mil in 1998, of which 90% related to equipment for the food sector. Danica, based in Joinville, State of Santa Catarina, ...
Brazil: Sistel to define management policy for its telephony.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Pension funds Sistel, which manages R$5bil assets of 70 telephone companies in Brazil, will define its management policy within the next 20 days. Sistel will define the funds owned by each of the 70 companies so as to allow them to create specific pension funds for theiremployees, ...
Brazil: small companies form consortium to export their products.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Backed by the ExportaBrasil private consulting project, small and medium-sized Brazilian companies have associated into groups in order to start exporting their products. The consortium of five tin products manufacturers based in Sao Joao del Rey, State of Minas Gerais willstart ...
Brazil: Multiplan to build commercial buildings in Rio de Janeiro.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Multiplan, Bozano Simonsen and Carvalho Hosken will invest together R$70mil to erect 5 commercial buildings at Barrashopping's facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A complex of 11 commercial buildings will beerected there at an overall cost of R$130mil. Some 40% of the investment will ...
Brazil: Cintra and Krill to grow beer business in Rio de Janeiro.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazil: Minor beer brands like Portugal's Cintra and Sao Paulo's Krill will penetrate into the Rio de Janeiro market in order to grow theirbusinesses. At present Cintra has 1.2% of the Rio de Janeiro market, but it aims to grow 4% by opening a plant in Barra do Pirai next year. The ...
Brazil: Petrobras formed joint venture with Kerr-McGee and Esso.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Petrobras yesterday formed a joint venture with Kerr-McGee in order to research and develop oil in Brazil along with Esso. The companies willexplore the BS-1 oilfield located in Santos, State of Sao Paulo. The project will demand starting investments of US$50mil, including drilling ...
Brazil: auction for Santarem port failed.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The privatization of the Santarem port located in the State of Para, Brazil was temporarily stopped. Only Cargill presented its tender yesterday - the company aims to build a food grains terminal at the port through investments of between R$25mil and R$30mil. The other interested ...
Brazil: Petrobras to issue US$1bil stocks.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Petrobras of Brazil considers the issuance of US$1bil stocks abroad within the 2nd semester of 1999. The oil company also plans to restructure its financial area, including the creation of a specific division to deal with project finance. Petrobras will also start preparing ADR's ...
Brazil: CVRD's common stocks to be sold this year.
Jul 19, 1999 ... According to the agreement signed between the Brazilian federal government and IMF, CVRD's 32% common stocks that were not acquired through privatization will be sold until the end of 1999, generating some R$2bil revenues to the government. CVRD's stocks will be issued both in Brazil ...
Brazil: O Boticario to focus on smaller cities.
Jul 19, 1999 ... O Boticario will focus on smaller Brazilian cities in order to grow its toiletries business. At present the company operates in nearly all of the bigger cities of the country. O Boticario will also launch new toiletries into the market in order to reduce the dependence on perfumes ...
Brazil: Gerdau made profit of R$175mil.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Gerdau of Brazil posted net profit of R$175mil in the 1st semester of 1999, a 45.8% increase compared with the same period of 1998. Gross sales at the iron & steel group rose 15.9%, to R$1.6bil. Gerdau produced 1.9mil tons of steel in the 1st semester of 1999, a 3.6% increase compared ...
Brazil: Orsa to build plant in Goias.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Orsa group will build a paperboard containers producing plant in Rio Verde, State of Goias, Brazil. The plant will cost R$30mil and will be the group's 5th one in the country. The new plant's production capacity will total 5,000 tons of paperboard boxes per month, of which 1,200 ...
Brazil: Pao de A=E7ucar expands Extra supermarkets in Rio.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Pao de A=E7ucar supermarkets chain is dedicating next week two Extra hyper markets in Rio de Janeiro at Nova Igacu and Alcantara, in the former facilities bought from Paes Mendonca. Investments to modernize the two branches were R$60mil - R$70mil. Until September four Extra ...
Brazil: BC changes rules for foreign banking entrance.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Brazilian Central Bank has changed the rules for the entrance of foreign banks in the domestic market, that will have to acquire or associated with local banks. Also it will not be charged to them a contribution to solve cash flow problems of the financial systems, a rule dubbed ...
Brazil: ParaRede seeks opportunities.
Jul 19, 1999 ... ParaRede, a Portuguese company specialized in networks integration and development of tailor made computer programs, is now focused to growthin Brazil where it acquired in 1998 SMD, and is planning investments of R$1mil in 1999. SMD specialized in technology niches, and will enlarge it ...
Brazil: Yahoo! Brasil partners with news agencies.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Yahoo! Brasil is to expand its news service partnering with GZM (Gazeta Mercantil), MTV, and Reuters aiming to reinforce the visits of users to its site. Yahoo! Brasil began its Portuguese language site one month ago, and has registered 15,000 sites in its search ...
Brazil: Telefonica improves image next to customers.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Telefonica, that faced an erosion of is image next to the Sao Paulo state consumers, to whom it render fixed telephone services, benefited from the chaotic start up of the competition in long distance services, that shifted the criticism to Embratel, while Telefonica performed ...
Brazil: TV Filme launches pre paid subscription.
Jul 19, 1999 ... TV Filme, that operates subscription television services in Brasilia, launched the Mais TV, a pre paid channel, prior tested in Campina Grande, Paraiba state. The new service allowed TV Filme to increase the number of subscribers in its area of coverage, mainly in the low income ...
Brazil: Metalic to start restructuring.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Brazilian metal cans manufacturer Metalic, owned by the Vicunha group, reported losses of R$17.5mil last year. Net operating revenue at thecompany amounted to R$20.8mil. Financial expenses amounted to R$11mil. The company has debts of R$47mil with BNDES. Metalic's new president, Carlos ...
Brazil: Cataguazes Leopoldina to build power plants.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Cataguazes Leopoldina will build small-sized power plants in order to increase its energy generating capacity. At present the company generates 55 MW, which represent nearly 10% of the energy it distributes. The goal is to generate 180 MW more by building 10 small-sized power plants in ...
Brazil: Alstom formed joint venture with Light.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Alstom formed a joint venture with the Brazilian power company Light to provide maintenance and other technical services. The new company, Altm, is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, being controlled by Alstom, which holds a 51% stake. Altm will compete for a market estimated at ...
Galena's Brazilian subsidiary formed alliance with Czec Galena.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Galena's Brazilian subsidiary and Galena AS of the Czec Republic will invest together US$10mil in Brazil in order to strengthen their positions and become global players. Some US$6mil of the total will be invested in the construction of a plant which will produce raw material for the ...
Brazil: CBA to acquire Canoas I and Canoas II.
Jul 19, 1999 ... CBA (Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio) aims to acquire a 100% stake in the Canoas I and Canoas II power plants, which are owned by CespParanapanema. The acquisition will though depend on the agio over Cesp Paranapanema's starting privatization price. Canoas I and Canoas II are part of ...
Argentina: Paso Alto offers opportunity for forestry investments.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The Uruguayan company Paso Alto is offering to Argentinean investors opportunities in the forestry business. The company wants to raise cash amongst investors offering annual rates of 16,5%, far more attractive than usual investment funds. With the cash raise Paso alto wants to acquire ...
Argentina: Sofedit acquires Montich.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Sofedit, controlled by Trianon (France), signed a contract to acquire for US$20mil a 70% stake in the Cordoba based auto parts producer Montich. Source: La Nacion Page: 1 Date: July 15, 1999 ...
Argentina: The new Parana - Uruguaiana gas pipeline.
Jul 19, 1999 ... TGN (Transportadora de Gas del Norte) and TGM (Transportadora de Gas del Mercosur) launched the construction of the 440 Km gas pipeline Parana -Uruguayana, that from mid 2000 onwards will supply natural gas to South of Entre Rios, Corrientes (Argentina) and to the border of Brazil ...
Argentina: Small Luxury Hotels seeks local partners.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Small Luxury Hotels (UK) is actively seeking a partner in order to penetrate in the Argentinean market, associating with small hotels and resorts. It has made an alliance with Creative Concepts, to become itsrepresentative in the Mercosur. Hotels willing to associate to small Luxury ...
Argentina: Kamikaze seeks partners to set up pubs in Argentinean.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Producciones y Inversiones that has the pubs chain Kamikaze in Chile, is seeking partners in order to penetrate in Argentina, starting with Cordoba, Buenos Aires, and Mendoza provinces. Negotiations are underway with the entertainment company Guerra & Guerrero to set up a pubs chain ...
Argentina: Changes in the management of CEI Citicorp Holdings.
Jul 19, 1999 ... CEI Citicorp Holdings is actively negotiating to appoint a new chairman to replace Mr. Raul Moneta, that has troubles with the Argentinean justice due to problems with his private banking businesses. Market rumors say that Mr. Richard Handley, former chairman CEI would take over the ...
Argentina: Alpargatas wins license with Avia and Umbto.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Textiles & apparel major Alpargatas has stroke a deal to acquire 90% of Masel, and through it incorporate to its portfolio the sporting trademarks Avia and Umbro, and with it 34% of the domestic sporting goods distribution market. Masel has the license of Umbro for Argentina and ...
Brazil: plastic recycling business grows.
Jul 19, 1999 ... Due to raw material shortage, Sao Paulo-based plastic recycling companies, which generate R$114.6mil revenues every year, are searching for alternative sources, like the Amazon region of Brazil. Those companies recycle 159,000 tons of plastic per year, according to the chemical ...
Brazil: Vicunha transferred assets to the northeastern region.
Jul 19, 1999 ... The textiles company Elizabeth was incorporated yesterday by Vicunha Nordeste (Vine Textil), the Vicunha group's northeastern subsidiary headquartered in Fortaleza, State of Ceara, Brazil. Elizabeth is now a non-operating firm that holds stakes in several other firms, includingthe Banco ...