Dealbook<\/a>) The Carlyle Group has made large strides toward raising a new Brazilian buyout fund, obtaining some R$375m, or about US$170m, in a first close. <\/p>\nInvestors include Banco do Brasil and Brazilian pension funds, said the person, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized by the firm to speak.<\/p>\n
The close, which occurred last week, is the first step in the private equity firm\u2019s plans to raise what it hopes will ultimately be a 1 billion reais ($452 million) Brazilian fund.<\/p>\n
It comes at a time when several investment firms are trying to raise new funds this year mainly to invest in Brazil, even amid an economic slowdown.<\/p>\n
Advent International is looking to raise an international Latin America-focused $2 billion fund, according to two people briefed on that firm\u2019s plans. G\u00e1vea Investments is near a final close of a $1 billion to $1.2 billion fund, DealBook reported last week.<\/p>\n
For Carlyle, the fund-raising suggests the firm continues to stay optimistic about Brazil, where in 2008 it formed a South American buyouts team.<\/p>\n
Its first local fund, 360 million reais (or $225 million at exchange rates at the time) closed in 2011 and also counted Banco do Brasil as a main investor. That was considered a significant milestone in the industry: a rare instance where a foreign private equity firm drew Brazilian institutional investors and also allowed an investment committee to weigh in on decisions, long considered a bureaucratic hassle by foreign private equity firms.<\/p>\n
That fund was raised in parallel with a separate $776 million South American Buyout Fund, which also invests in Brazil.<\/p>\n
That international fund still has significant capital remaining, according to two people briefed on the firm\u2019s plans. That is in part because in 2013 the firm did not make a single investment in a new company in Brazil, they said.<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s economy has deteriorated in recent years with sluggish growth and no imminent sign of a lift. This week economists lowered their forecast for the country\u2019s economic growth this year to less than 1 percent.<\/p>\n
A survey of 100 economists by Brazil\u2019s central bank showed that they pegged growth for 2014 at a dismal 0.97 percent. That is down from their estimates of 1.05 percent last week and 1.16 percent one month ago.<\/p>\n
That could raise concerns about Brazil\u2019s consumer goods sector, where until now Carlyle has bet heavily. Its portfolio includes Scalina, a manufacturer and retailer of women\u2019s lingerie and hosiery, Ri Happy, a retail toy store, and Tok & Stok, a large furniture chain.<\/p>\n
It also sought to tap into other sectors like technology, but this year lost out to Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Company in a bid to acquire Aceco TI, a Brazilian data center company.<\/p>\n
For now, though, the firm is focused on convincing investors that opportunities for private equity abound in Brazil.<\/p>\n
Carlyle executives did not return messages seeking comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Dealbook) The Carlyle Group has made large strides toward raising a new Brazilian buyout fund, obtaining some R$375m, or about US$170m, in a first close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Carlyle Is Said to Be Raising New Brazilian Buyout Fund - LAVCA<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n