(Financial News) The firm said in a statement on December 9 that it would open an office in São Paulo, Brazil, taking its total number of offices globally to 24.

The office, expected to open in January or February, would be the firm’s first in the region.

Jean-Marc Etlin, a high-profile banker in Latin America, will join CVC in January as head of Latin America, initially with five or six staff.

Etlin will join from his current position as chief executive of Brazil’s Itaú BBA Investment Bank, where he has also served as a member of the management committee since 2005, having joined the bank 10 years ago, according to CVC.

He previously worked at investment bank UBS as a managing director and co-head of Latin America investment banking until 2005.

CVC’s launch in Latin America, where it has yet to secure its first buyout, comes amid economic dislocation in the region, according to the firm’s spokesman, with currency depreciation and a need for private capital creating investment opportunities.

vIn November, Carlos Garcia, co-managing partner of Victoria Capital Partners, an investor focused on Latin America, told Dow Jones Newswires that asset valuations had declined in the region following lower growth expectations.

Although, Cate Ambrose, executive director of trade body the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, added that significant currency depreciation in Brazil in recent years had created attractive investment conditions for dollar-denominated funds.

Bertrand Meunier, managing partner of CVC, said the firm had monitored Latin American and Brazil, in particular, for several years. He said: “Latin America with its 650 million population and its vast natural resources provides interesting investment opportunities, as fast growing companies see the benefit of partnering with a provider of thoughtful capital.”

The firm will back deals in the region with capital from the more than €10.9 billion buyout fund it raised in 2013.

The launch will follow two other new office openings this year. In September the firm opened a branch in Warsaw with Krzysztof Krawczyk joining CVC in October as head of Poland. He joined the firm from Innova Capital, a mid-market firm where he worked as managing partner. In January, CVC opened an office in San Francisco.