Dealflow.la #2 - Avianca Merger 🇨🇴, $1.8 Billion of iFood 🇧🇷 Sold, and Siemens to Rebuild Venezuela’s Power Grid 🇻🇪.
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Funding
Belvo 🇲🇽 raised an undisclosed amount from Citi bank Mexico’s venture fund 🇲🇽 after previous investments from Founders Fund 🇺🇸, Kazek 🇧🇷, Maya Capital 🇧🇷, Visa 🇺🇸, and YCombinator 🇺🇸 among others to continue building their ‘Plaid for Latin American.’
Capitalizarme.com 🇨🇱 raised a $1.4 Million Post-Seed/Pre-Series A Venture Round lead by Aurus 🇨🇱 to build their fractional real estate investing platform which targets Millenials and Gen Z as their target customers.
Quaddro 🇧🇷 raised a $3.25 Million Seed Round led by Valor Capital Group 🇧🇷/🇺🇸, followed by Grão 🇧🇷, Bridge Latam 🇲🇽, and NXTP 🇦🇷 to build the operating system for service and knowledge-based solopreneurs in Latin America through automated business management, scheduling, workflow automation, financial serives, and a CRM service all-in-one for SMEs.
Pomelo 🇦🇷 raised a $15 Million Series A from Insight Partners 🇺🇸, Index Ventures 🇺🇸, BoxGroup 🇺🇸, and Latitud 🇧🇷 to build new infrastructure to launch and scale financial services in Latin America in weeks, not years.
Web3 start-up Koibanx 🇦🇷 rasied a $22 Million Series A lead by Algorand 🇺🇸 to address blockchain scaling challenges through rapid and efficient user consensus, enabling even the smallest transactions, regardless of transaction volume or number of users.
The International Finance Corporation 🌎 signed a new financing tranche of US$ 35 million (approximately R$ 168 million) to support data center provider ODATA 🇧🇷 to invest in new data centers in Mexico.
M&A Activity
Just Eat Takeaway 🇳🇱 sells their 33% stake in Brazilian food ordering and delivery platform iFood 🇧🇷 for $1.8 Billion. iFood holds a 80% of the food delivery market in Brazil. The initial deal will amount to €1.5 billion in cash, plus another €300 million depending on the performance of iFood over the next 12 months. (TechCrunch)
Avianca 🇨🇴 and Viva 🇨🇴 seek merger authorization from the Colombian Civil Aviation Authority 🇨🇴. Avianca and its shareholders recently learned “that Viva is going through a complex financial situation that requires immediate intervention.” Rising fuel prices have put Viva at risk, and the ultra-low-cost carrier is looking for new solutions to help it emerge successfully from this latest crisis. This is the first time Viva has publicly acknowledged it faces financial pressure and its future is at risk. (Simple Flying)
Sociopolitical Risk Report
🇦🇷 Argentina
Mass protests in Buenos Aires demand higher wages and lower inflation. (Reuters)
An Argentine federal prosecutor requested a 12-year prison sentence on Monday for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the country's former president and current vice president, on corruption charges related to public works. (Reuters)
🇧🇿 Belize
Nothing noteworthy this week.
🇧🇴 Bolivia
Clashes continue for the third week in La Paz between police and coca farmers. (Euronews)
🇧🇷 Brazil
Brazil lifts mask requirement for planes. (Simple Flying)
🇨🇱 Chile
Chilean legislators to be drug tested as new initiative begins. (Reuters/US News)
🇨🇴 Colombia
Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, unveiled a plan to impose a wealth tax on the rich just hours after being sworn in. If approved by the legislature; a 0.5% tax rate on assets above about $600,000 that would climb to a 1% rate on assets over $1.1 million. Another Petro proposal seeks to raise income taxes on wealthy Colombians by “about 200%.” (Bloomberg)
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Costa Rica seeks entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc. (Reuters)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
Nothing noteworthy this week.
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Guayaquil explosion 'declaration of war' by gangs - Ecuadorian officials. (BBC)
🇸🇻 El Salvador
El Salvador plans 40,000-inmate mega-prison in ‘war against gangs.’ (Financial Times)
🇬🇹 Guatemala
Guatemala retrieves 33 Mayan artifacts from private collection in Germany. (France 24)
🇭🇳 Honduras
Nothing noteworthy this week.
🇲🇽 Mexico
Government blames Aeroméxico for causing delays at Mexico City airport. Airline responds with data showing it leads competitors in terms of punctuality. (Mexico News Daily)
Mexico’s ex-attorney general arrested over disappearance of 43 students in 2014. (The Guardian)
Mexico suffers another high Consumer Price Index surprise. (BNA)
Brazen attacks by organised crime leaders have left bystanders killed as many question the president’s security policies. (The Guardian)
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
A wave of government attacks on church leaders has extinguished the last independent voice in the Central American nation. (New York Times)
For another perspective: Police put a Catholic bishop under house arrest after their raid on a diocese in Nicaragua 5 days ago. (CNN)
Nicaraguan government takes over opposition newspaper headquarters. (Reuters)
🇵🇦 Panama
Nothing noteworthy this week.
🇵🇾 Paraguay
Paraguay’s vice president to stay on after corruption accusations Hugo Velazquez reverses his decision to resign after the US last week accused him of involvement in ‘significant’ corruption. (Paraguay)
🇵🇪 Peru
Peru's consumer protection agency is suing Spanish oil firm Repsol for $4.5bn over a huge oil spill which blackened beaches off the coast of Lima in January. (BBC)
The US State Department designated Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velazquez and associate Juan Carlos Duarte ineligible for entry to the U.S. for involvement in significant corruption. “We stand committed to supporting democracy and promoting accountability for corrupt officials.” - Secretary Blinkin (Twitter)
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s population fell 11.8% to nearly 3.3 million, the Census Bureau said last year. But its latest post-enumeration survey suggests the 2020 census overcounted people in Puerto Rico, hinting at larger population loss as the island’s total population may be closer to 3.1 million. (NBC)
🇺🇾 Uruguay
Indian mining tycoon Pramod Agarwal describes Uruguay’s reputation as the Switzerland of Latin America as “eyewash.” His decade-long attempt to develop a world-class iron ore mine in the South American beef-exporting nation collapsed in 2016 amid acrimony and he lost his entire investment of $365mn. A Paris appeal court is due to rule in October on whether a tribunal should hear his $3.5bn compensation claim. (Financial Times)
🇻🇪 Venezuela
U.S. court upholds Conoco's $8.7 billion award for loss of Venezuela assets. (Reuters)
Siemens in talks to make $1.5 billion of repairs and investment in Venezuela’s electricity grid after gaining US licenses to do so. (Bloomberg)
An appeals court has overturned a Florida federal judge’s order seizing the U.S. fortune of a sanctioned Venezuelan billionaire with alleged cartel ties to satisfy a $318 million judgment for the American victims of a Colombian terrorist kidnapping. (ABC)
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