British American Tobacco PLC named Italian-born Nicandro Durante to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Durante was raised in Brazil.

Mr. Durante has been at BAT for 29 years, which is the owner of such cigarette brands as Lucky Strike and Pall Mall.

Sicredi, a Brazilian lending union, hired Accenture for information technology [tecnologia da informação] support and system development.

“This engagement closely aligns with our business and IT strategy and follows current market trends of hiring specialized services providers such as Accenture to offer and manage IT solutions,” said Denilson Mascarenhas, IT executive director with Sicredi. Read the rest of this entry »

Novelis, the aluminum producer headquartered in Atlanta, started a US$15 million expansion of recycling capacity at its aluminum plant in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo. Read the rest of this entry »

Shearman & Sterling, a law firm [escritório de advocacia], advised Banco do Brasil and Banco do Brasil Securities on their application to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Read the rest of this entry »

RB Capital started selling up to 62 million reais ($35 million) in receivables of the Brazilian shopping mall company General Shopping. Read the rest of this entry »

O banco UBS anunciou ter comprado a Link Investimentos, uma corretora brasileira, por 195 milhões de reais (US$112 milhões).

“O Brasil representa dois terços da economia da América Latina e estima-se que chegará à posição de quinta maior economia do mundo por volta de 2015. É primordial para nós oferecer operações domésticas aos nossos clientes em mercados importantes como o Brasil”, declarou Carsten Kengeter, Co-CEO do UBS Investment Bank.

Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, Co-CEO do UBS Investment Bank, disse: “Nós vemos o Brasil como um mercado estrategicamente importante, com significativo potencial de crescimento. A aquisição da Link Investimentos traz uma plataforma para o UBS reconstruir sua presença e expandi-la no Brasil”.

O UBS acredita que seus clientes se beneficiarão da adição dos novos serviços, disse Raul Esquivel, Head para a América Latina do UBS Investment Bank.

Daniel Mendonça de Barros, CEO da Link Investimentos disse estar empolgado com a perspectiva de se unir ao UBS, ampliar o sucesso que a Link vem obtendo no Brasil e criar uma nova organização líder em serviços financeiros.

“Estou confiante de que nossos clientes se beneficiarão muito do alcance global dos produtos do UBS”, Barros comentou.

Este texto está disponível em inglês através deste link.

UBS announced it acquired Link Investimentos, a Brazilian brokerage, for 195 million reais ($112 million).

“Brazil represents two-thirds of the Latin American economy and is expected to be the world’s fifth largest economy by 2015. It is crucial that we have on-shore capabilities to serve our clients in globally important markets such as Brazil.” Carsten Kengeter, Co-CEO of UBS Investment Bank, said in a statement.

Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, Co-CEO of UBS Investment Bank, said: “We view Brazil as a strategically important market with significant growth potential. The acquisition of Link Investimentos provides a platform for UBS to re-build our presence and expand our footprint in Brazil.”

UBS believes its clients will benefit from the addition of trading capabilities in Brazil, said Raul Esquivel, Head of Latin America for UBS Investment Bank.

Daniel Mendonça de Barros, CEO of Link Investimentos said he is excited to join UBS to build on the successes that Link has had in Brazil, and create a leading financial services organization.

“I am confident that our clients will benefit greatly from the global breadth of UBS’s product offering,” Barros added.

This article is available in Portuguese here.

A Norsk Hydro, empresa produtora de alumínio com sede em Oslo, comprou ativos de bauxita, alumina e alumínio da Vale, a maior mineradora brasileira, por US$4,9 bilhões.

A Vale receberá US$1,1 bilhão em dinheiro e uma participação de 22% na Norsk Hydro, que ainda assume dívida de líquida no valor de US$700 milhões.

A operação inclui a empresa Paragominas e participações majoritárias na Alunorte, na Albras e na CAP.

O contrato foi assinado por Svein Richard Brandtzæg, Presidente e CEO da Norsk Hydro, e, representando a Vale, Tito Martins e Pedro Rodrigues.

Em decorrência da operação, a Hydro designou Johnny Undeli chefe de uma nova área responsável por bauxita e alumina.

Este artigo está disponível em inglês através deste link.

Norsk Hydro, the Oslo-based aluminum producer, bought $4.9bn worth of bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets from Vale, Brazil’s mining company.

Vale sold the assets for $1.1 billion in cash, a 22% stake in Norsk Hydro, which assumed $700mn of net debt.

The deal entails Paragominas and majority stakes in Alunorte, Albras and CAP.

The contract was signed by Svein Richard Brandtzæg, President and CEO of Norsk Hydro, and Tito Martins and Pedro Rodrigues of Vale.

As a result of this transaction, Hydro named Johnny Undeli head of a new area to handle the bauxite and alumina business.

This article is available in Portuguese here.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, a New York-based law firm, will open its first office in Brazil. Read the rest of this entry »