Buyout and venture capital firms are found to have spent $7.9 billion on acquisition activities in Latin America in 2012 after benefiting from heavy fundraising to gain capital in purchasing targets in the education, financial and consumer industries, the New York-based Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association disclosed.
According to the private-equity association, investment by private equity and venture capital funds increased by 21 percent from the earlier year, reaching a 5-year high. In 2012, acquisitions and mergers led by private equity investors hit a total of 237, showing a 37% rise from 2011.
Latin American countries seen to have growing merger and acquisition activities are Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Chile, where competition is lesser than in Brazil.
The association further revealed that most buyout companies are realigning their focus on financial investment while fundraising plummeted last year from $10.3 billion in 2011.
Join the Conversation