Gourmet meat supplier Wessel seeks strategic partner

High-end meat supplier Wessel, founded by a Hungarian family of butchers, considers selling the control of the business. Potential buyers include Minerva and BRF, who already had talks with the family. The Wessels would prefer to become the minority partner of a strategic investor than sell a stake of the company to a private equity fund. In 2020, Wessel had revenue of R$160 million, with the share of food service dropping to 23% from 60% before the pandemic due to restaurants closure.

Source: Valor international

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

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Report on Eletrobras capitalization expected for this week

The proposed capitalization of Eletrobras, after the end of the government’s control, will have a crucial week. Deputy Elmar Nascimento (Democrats, DEM, of Bahia) said he will present in the coming days the report of the Provisional Measure that defines and authorizes the operation to Congress leaders. The next steps are suggestions from the parties to the draft, final adjustments and voting. The Bolsonaro administration expects to raise R$25 billion with Eletrobras, which is Brazil’s main power utility, but has been struggling to move forward with its privatization effort.

Source: Valor international

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

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Iochpe-Maxion to issue bonds linked to sustainability

Auto parts maker Iochpe-Maxion started a road show to issue $400 million in Sustainability-Linked Bonds in the international market. The funds will be used to pay short-term debts. Moody’s assigned a provisional (P) Ba3 rating to the company and the issuance. Iochpe hired Bradesco BBI, Citigroup, Commerzbank, HSBC, Itaú BBA, Santander and UBS for the operation. With this type of financial instrument, the company commits to sustainability goals for its operations and if they are not met there is an increase in the interest rate paid.

Source: Valor international

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

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Emergency aid boosts number of banknotes in circulation

The Brazilian financial sector has undergone a transformation in recent years, with the emergence of new technologies, such as Pix and open banking, in addition to fintechs, but a very traditional form of payment gained space in 2020: paper money. Driven by the payment of emergency aid in the midst of the pandemic, the number of banknotes in circulation increased sharply and benefited companies that work with cash, such as ATM operators, securities carriers and even some fintechs. Currently, banknotes and coins in circulation total R$341 billion, in comparison with R$259 billion before the pandemic, an increase of 31.4%. The demand for paper money was so great that the Central Bank was forced to anticipate the launch of the R$200 note.

Source: Valor international

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

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Locaweb gets stronger in the market for small and medium businesses

With the purchase of Bling – a provider of online ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – Locaweb made the largest acquisition in its history (R$524.3 million) and sent a message to the market that it will be increasingly difficult to break into its stronghold when it comes to the digitization of small and medium businesses. According to analysts, the acquisition bothers Locaweb’s direct competitors in e-commerce (such as Nuvemshop, Loja Integrada, bought by the Brazilian startup VTEX, and Shopify) more than the ERP market. Bling is the tenth acquisition by Locaweb since its IPO in February 2020.

Source: Valor international

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

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Wheat mills gear up for consolidation in Brazil

The outlook of sustaining prices of wheat and its products in the coming years, considering the growing consumption, should make revenues of Brazilian mills grow by 6.6% per year on average until 2025, to R$123.9 billion. In terms of net income, however, margins may be tight, mainly due to the effects of the exchange rate on the cost of raw materials, since the country is a major grain importer. The scenario was set by TCP Partners, an investment boutique firm that maps over 40 industries. It believes the sector will face consolidation in the next three to four years. Brazil has 193 mills and only 30% of them have an annual revenue higher than R$100 million. In addition, only 21% have annual revenue above R$1 million.

Source: Valor international

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

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Young Brazilians invest more in stocks

Young Brazilians are leaving behind savings accounts and investing in the stock exchange. At São Paulo-based B3, people with up to 25 years of age opened 374,822 new investments accounts in the last 27 months. Of this total, 88,257 were women. For investors between 26 and 35 years old, the number of new accounts was 1.34 million. To get out of the traditional savings account, Júlia Abi-Sâmara, 23, started by investing in the more conservative government bonds, pegged to the official benchmark rate Selic. As she gained knowledge and confidence, she took more chances. “I saw that everything was right and started to explore other options. Today my portfolio is diversified. I used to be conservative, moderate and today I have a little more of a bold investor profile,” she says.

Source: Valor international

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

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Brazil passes law to speed up sending of genetic heritage data abroad

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday (Apr. 20) sanctioned the law governing the procedures on sending samples with genetic heritage data overseas in epidemiological scenarios with major public health concerns. The initiative aims to speed up, simplify, and devise strategies for the development of therapeutic products.

The law eases the protection of Brazilian genetic heritage established in a 2015 law, but mandates that its application should take place in “epidemiological settings leading to a public health emergency.”

The move is crucial for the development of research aiming to tackle calamity situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic. In such cases, sending genetic heritage information overseas can speed up the search for solutions of national interest in collaboration with international partners, a note issued by the president’s office reads.

Legal limitations

“When a large number of microcephaly cases linked to the Zika virus in infants were discovered, even after the Health Ministry declared it a health emergency, certain legal limitations became conspicuous. Unprecedented scenarios, like the one seen, require all collaboration possible and available. The cooperation of scientists, researchers, and health agencies in other countries and international organizations is key,” the text goes on to mention.

As a result of legal obstacles, the statement adds, great difficulty hindered the efforts to send samples of the Zika virus to foreign scientists and institutions on the occasion. This led to a delay in diagnosis and the concerning measures.

Source: Agência Brasil

https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en

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Renner confirms stock offering in coming days

Fashion retailer Lojas Renner confirmed Monday and gave details about the secondary stock offering it intends to put in place in the next few days. The company may raise up to R$6.5 billion, an amount that would give the retailer the ability to make acquisitions. Lojas Renner confirmed the intention to sell at least 102 million shares. Considering the closing price of R$46.90 for shares on Friday, the offering can raise R$4.78 billion. There is also the possibility of an additional tranche of 35.7 million shares, which would raise the offering to R$6.46 billion.

Source: Valor international

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

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More union agreements have rules for remote working

The Covid-19 pandemic caused unions of companies and workers to negotiate rules for remote working. Of the 20,038 collective labor agreements signed in 2020, 2,738 (13.7%) dealt with the matter. A leap compared to the previous year. In 2019, the home office was a subject in 284 negotiations (1.2%), according to a survey carried out by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese). Most of the collective labor agreements signed in 2020 deal, in addition to authorization for remote work, with equipment supply and granting or suspension of aid and benefits. Despite the advances, lawyers for both companies and workers say there is still a lot of room for negotiation this year.

Source: Valor international

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

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