Minerva injects $4m in Silicon Valley startup

Four months after announcing the creation of a fund to invest in startups, Minerva Foods closed the first deal. With an injection of $4 million, the Brazilian group became a minority shareholder of Clara Foods, a Silicon Valley foodtech that develops alternative proteins — free of animals — for use in the food industry. Founded by Mexican Arturo Elizondo, Clara Foods was born within IndieBio, the world’s largest biotechnology incubator. The startup has already raised more than $50 million through two rounds of investment. Minerva does not reveal the stake it bought. In an interview with Valor, Minerva CFO Edison Ticle says this will not be the company’s only investment. The venture capital fund has $30 million to inject in startups. He says the plan is to invest between $1 million and $15 million in up to 10 companies.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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BNDES will offer credit linked to better carbon footprint

The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) hopes to launch before the end of the year a new line of credit with rates linked to the improvement of the “carbon footprint” of ethanol-producing plants, said Mauro Mattoso, head of the bank’s Agri-Food and Biofuels Complex Department, at a virtual event by Datagro consultancy. The bank will finance producers in order to improve the energy-environmental efficiency rating of the plants accredited in the RenovaBio program, which came into force this year.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Small companies expanded access to credit during pandemic

Bank credit available for micro, small and medium-size companies reached an annual growth rate of 28% in September, driven by government initiatives to guarantee financing for the segment during the pandemic. With expansion rates that have not been seen for almost a decade, these companies have become the most dynamic borrowers in the last two months. “Data indicate that several programs launched by the government were successful, although we didn’t do research with the companies to confirm that they had their needs met,” said the deputy head of the Central Bank’s Statistics Department, Renato Baldine. Large corporations, which at the beginning of pandemic withdrew lines of credit from financial institutions, recorded a 12.6% increase in operations in the period.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Órama launches platform for investing with purpose

Brokerage house Órama Investimentos is launching this Tuesday a platform for “investing with purpose,” something unprecedented in Brazil. Through it, investors will be able to allocate to social entities half of the fees they would pay to Órama. The first registered partner is NGO Doctors Without Borders. “In the financial market, we are starting a different way of acting. The pandemic has made us accelerate many internal projects and the matter of purpose has become priority number one,” Órama CEO Habib Nascif Neto says. By choosing to help, investors authorize that 50% of all revenue generated thanks to their investments with the brokerage house go to the chosen institution. Investors do not shoulder extra charges — only part of what would go to Órama will be redirected.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Analysts see Selic at 2% by end of 2020

Uncertainties over the future of the Brazilian economy will likely force the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) to keep Selic policy interest rate unchanged next week. This assessment is unanimous among the 76 financial firms heard by Valor, which also expect the Selic to be maintained at the December meeting, the last one in 2020. The projections for next year are dispersed, but there is a consensus, shared with the Central Bank itself, that the rates’ trajectory depends on the fiscal situation. For 2021, BTG Pactual foresees interest at 3%, Banco Inter at 3.5%, Credit Suisse at 4% and Pezco at 4.75%. Persevera bets on new cuts.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Asia absorbs almost half of Brazilian exports

Almost half of Brazilian exports travel 50 days by ship to Asia. From January to September, Asian countries bought $76.2 billion in Brazilian products, or 48.7% of all exports, in comparison to 40.5% during the same period last year. Exports to Asia grew 10.9% in the period, while total exports dropped 7.7%, according to data from the Economy Ministry. Of the total soybean exported by Brazil so far this year, 82% were to Asia. The number is of 84.4% and 75.3% for iron ore and crude oil, respectively. China is the engine behind the trend with 34.1% of all Brazilian exports to Asia, up from 27.6% in the same period of 2019.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Brazilian GDP will grow 7.1% in third quarter

The Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Ibre/FGV) now estimates that the country’s GDP will grow 7.1% in the third quarter due to a stronger economic activity recovery, an indication of a little less severe recession for the year.

The previous projection was for an increase of 6.6%. With the revision, the expected contraction for the year is of 5.1%, instead of the previous 5.3%. “Brazil has been a positive highlight in Latin America, due to the milder social distancing measures and policies of monetary and fiscal stimulus much more intense than in other countries of the region,” wrote Ibre researchers Armando Castelar and Silvia Matos in a document.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Foreign investors see opportunities in Brazil once again

After a record exit in recent months, foreign investors seem to be finding some opportunities in the Brazilian stock market. From October 1 to 19, they invested R$2.55 billion, according to data from stock exchange B3’s secondary market. Although not a full month, the value is the highest since September 2018, when the inflow of foreign capital was R$3.28 billion. The movement is helping to drive the stock exchange, but it is still very limited considering the capital flight of R$85.2 billion so far this year. Analysts say the trend is consequence of a global search for stocks from emergent markets.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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IPOs regain strength

Despite recent market turmoil that led some companies to cancel initial public offerings in September, a new wave of IPOs gained strength in October.

So far, 12 were filed, the second highest monthly number, after August. Some are transactions of large scale and expected for some time, such as Casa de Pedra, CSN, Rede D’Or and Tok&Stok, but others surprised the market, like Grupo Big (former Walmart) and Oba Hortifruti. So far this year, IPOs already raised R$94.2 billion, a historical record.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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Credit program for small business will become permanent

The National Program for Support of Micro and Small Business (Pronampe) will be granted a third phase this year, possibly with R$10 billion, and become permanent, said secretary of Productivity, Employment and Competitiveness, Carlos Da Costa. The amount contracted in this line of credit so far reached R$18.7 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, but the goal is to get to R$40 billion in the future. The government also intends to regulate the National Credit Guarantee System before the end of the year to allow special credit access to micro and small companies.

Source: Valor International

https://www.valor.com.br/international/briefs

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