São Paulo – Brazil, China and India stood out in terms of acquisitions of companies that produce consumer products in the last quarter of 2009. This information is included in study “Cautious optimism – Analysis of transactions in the global consumer products sector”, by consultancy company Ernst & Young. According to the study, the three countries were involved in a total of 25 acquisitions in the last three months of last year.
Of this total, ten transactions involved Chinese companies, eight of them were Brazilian organisations and seven, Indian. The explanation for the performance above the global average, according to Ernst & Young, is the presence of a great population in these nations, the higher urban concentration, mainly young, and the emerging middle class.
"When compared to mature and stagnant markets, despite the heating up of the economy, emerging nations undoubtedly represent the greatest opportunity for growth for companies in the sector of consumer and retail products,” stated Sergio Citeroni, the global account leader at Ernst & Young.
Brazil also had the largest volume of transactions in the food sector last year, due to the purchase of Sadia by Perdigão, which resulted in BRFoods. The acquisition was the sixth largest in the consumer market. The country led in negotiations with foreign investors in the last quarter of 2009. Of the eight transactions with Brazilian companies in the period, six involved foreign capital.
*Translated by Mark Ament