Brazil sees major M&A growth

06/03/2012

Brazil has seen a substantial level of growth in merger and acquisitions (M&A) over the past year.

Recent data from Thomson Reuters revealed that deals have increased by 177 per cent in the first two months of 2012 in comparison to the same period last year.

The announced deals stood at $26.45 billion, a substantial amount of which was fuelled by the federal government's sale of $14.27 billion in licenses to refurbish and operate three airports.

Brazil's strong M&A performance is in direct contrast with worldwide activity, which actually slumped by 33 per cent during the same period, suggesting that Brazil's status as an emerging economy is going to still appeal to investors while the global economy struggles to return to growth.

However, initial public offerings (IPOs) in Brazil did not perform as well, with nothing priced for the first two months of the year in comparison to the $2.7 billion put through in the period in 2011. Thomson Reuters' report suggests that the 2012 period has been one of the slowest in terms of activity since 2009.

But there is more than one way to invest in Brazil and doing some research into alternative markets can help uncover profitable areas of the economy.