Private equity and venture capital in an emerging economy: evidence from Brazil

The Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) financial model was initially developed in the US and, therefore, designed for the US institutional environment. The degree to which the US PE/VC model can perform in other institutional environments is an interesting question. This article is based on data supplied by all of the 65 PE/VC organizations with offices in Brazil in 2004. Comparing Brazil and the US, we found that the main similarities are: an industry composed mostly of independent organizations, managing capital coming mostly from institutional investors; capital is heavily concentrated regionally and in few organizations; investments are made within a close geographical distance; and software and IT are preferred sectors. The main differences are that for Brazil: investments are concentrated in more advanced stages of corporate development; since credit is scarce, few LBOs take place; low levels of sector specialization (PE/VC investing in a broad variety of industrial sectors); firm concentration in Sao Paulo's financial district suggests a quest for commercial partners and strategic buyers for portfolio companies; and Brazilian PE/VC regulation recognizes the inefficiency of the legal system and forces the use of arbitration. We also discuss possible reasons for these adaptations.