By Satyajit Gupta & Rodrigo Ferraz de Camargo
Background
Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country and with an estimated population of 200 million, it is also the world’s fifth most populous country after China, India, USA and Indonesia. Brazil is a member of BRICS[1], an association of five major emerging national economies. Generally speaking, Brazil was a relatively closed economy in the 1970s and 1980s. However, similar to India, liberalization took place in the 1990s, resulting in the lifting of trade barriers and protective practices and the local manufacturers are now more competitive internationally.
Brazil has rich biodiversity and abundant agricultural, mineral and energy potential as well as broad industrial base and infrastructure and a diversified economy. The country has showcased enormous internal growth potential in last few years and dynamic business conditions. With abundance of semi-skilled and unskilled labor, Brazil is a commodity powerhouse. Recent years have seen a devaluation in the local currency i.e. Brazilian Real[2] leading to an attractive exchange rate for offshore acquirers. As a result, Brazil has been able to attract significant foreign investments and has emerged as one of the favourite destinations for global investors.
There has been a trend recently of Indian entities aggressively acquiring foreign companies or entering into mergers with them, so as to establish their presence in global markets. The transactions have been entered into by Indian entities either to expand their research and development, or to access intellectual property relating to their business or gain entry into lucrative as well as well-established markets around the globe. Indian investors have noticed the economic growth and potential in Brazil, and have made significant investments in Brazil. According to the Indian embassy in Brazil, Indian companies have made investments of around $5 billion i.e INR 32,762 crore, in Brazil.
Recent Indian investments in the Brazilian pharmaceuticals market with Cipla acquiring Duomed Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltd and Lupin Ltd acquiring Medquímica Indústria Farmacêutica S.A, is indicative of the recognition by Indian investors of the lucrative markets in Brazil.
Even IT companies like TCS, Wipro, and Infosys, automobile companies like Mahindra & Mahindra and infrastructure companies like L&T have followed the trend and invested in Brazil. The oil and gas sector in the country has seen investments by Indian companies, like Videocon Industries Ltd, which already owns stake in 10 exploration blocks in Brazil and proposes to further invest $2.5 billion over three years.
Legal Environment
The basic laws which govern any merger and acquisition transaction in Brazil are:
Regulatory bodies
The bodies regulating the various aspects of the mergers and acquisition are as follows:
Investment Vehicles
Popular forms of vehicles which are involved in carrying out mergers and acquisitions in Brazil, include the following:
Methods of mergers and acquisition
A few notable ways of entering into an acquisition transaction in Brazil are:
Tax Perspectives
Even though the tax regime in Brazil is complicated, there is flexibility provided which can be utilized by foreign companies through efficient tax planning. Acquisition of a company in Brazil does not entitle the company to utilize tax benefits such as tax credits and net operating losses carry-forward, however the same can be utilized through a merger with a company in Brazil.
From a tax perspective, share purchase is more beneficial than an asset sale, as a share purchase provides benefits like claim of amortization of goodwill generated on the share acquisition of the Brazilian company as a deductible expense in respect of the Brazilian corporate income taxes and social contribution on net profits. Additionally, through a share purchase, the indirect taxes applicable on sale of assets can also be avoided. Brazil also does not have a regime for indirect transfer of ownership of a company, which can also be utilized by foreign investors.
Brazil has also executed double taxation avoidance agreements with various countries, including India. The benefits under the double taxation avoidance agreement is therefore available to Indian companies which seek to establish themselves and operate in Brazil.
Restrictions
Foreign Investment: Under the foreign investment regime in place in Brazil, foreign ownership or control in certain sectors, e.g. media and broadcasting, mail and telegraph services, aviation companies etc., is prohibited. Additionally, certain other sectors have restrictions with regard to foreign investment, e.g. utility providers, insurance, similar public transportation, railroad, securities companies, fund managers and gambling.
Transfer of technology: The regulations relating to transfer of technology require that the technology transfer agreements, including transfers of patents and trademarks, must be approved and registered with INPI. In addition to the approval by INPI, any remittances for such transfers require BCB’s prior approval. Creation of such a multi-fold approval system increases the complexity of any inbound merger and acquisition transactions.
Foreign Managing Director: The management of both Limitadas and Corporations, may be undertaken by a foreign individual as long as he is resident in Brazil and has obtained a permanent visa and work permit. According to Brazilian laws, in order to obtain a permanent visa for the foreign managing director, the shareholders must prove to the Brazilian authorities that either (a) an investment of at least 600,000 Brazilian Reals was made per foreign managing director that will be assigned in Brazil; or (b) an investment of at least 150,000 Brazilian Reals was being made per managing director to be assigned in Brazil, together with the presentation of a business plan and the undertaking of a commitment with the authorities of hiring at least 10 local employees within 2 years following the arrival of the expatriate.
Foreign Employees: When hiring foreign employees, the company must follow all the legal formalities to obtain proper visa and also to obtain an authorization to hire foreign employees from the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Justice, Federal Police and the Federal Revenue’s Office. Accordingly, foreign employees must obtain a temporary work visa. The term of validity of this visa may vary according to the relationship of the employee with the Brazilian company. Brazilian law states that at least two thirds of the workforce of the companies registered in the country must be composed of Brazilian citizens, and two thirds of the payroll must go to Brazilians.
Issues and Challenges
Complex laws and regulations: The multiple regulators and the complex procedures prescribed under various regulations applicable to merger and acquisition transactions, act as an impediment in both the entry of new foreign investors wishing to acquire and the existing entities as well.
Environment: The environment protection laws makes the owner of real estate property liable for any contamination which occurs, even though the actual contamination may have been done by some other party or the previous owner.
Anti-trust: The requirement of approval of CADE in case of certain specified mergers and acquisition transactions, creates yet another issue for such transactions as the same are time consuming. The approval of the CADE required for proceeding with such transactions can take up to 330 days and can cause a major hold up in deals.
New anti-corruption law: Brazil introduced a new Anti-corruption Act (Law 12,846/13) on January 29 2014, which provides stringent civil and administrative liability for corporate entities involved in corruption or bribery. The new law also creates a liability for the directors, managers, officers, administrators or employees of a company which have been involved in such an act.
Tax related issues: The Imposto Sobre Operações Relativas à Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços de Transporte Interestadual de Intermunicipal e de Comunicações (“ICMS”), which is Brazilian value-added tax on sales and services and Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados (“IPI”), which is the Brazilan tax on Industrialized Products, are the most commonly applied taxes in Brazil. Transactions in some sectors have significant ICMS and IPI, which can be burdensome for foreign investors. Additionally, Brazil has a transfer pricing policy in place, which applies to import and export of services and goods in relation to related parties who are not residents of Brazil and keeps a check on the transactions between such parties.
Language: The official language of Brazil is Portuguese, which creates issues for a foreign company planning to invest in the country. The legal documents and contracts are required to be in Portuguese, in order to remain valid and in order to be enforced in the court of law in Brazil. The law in Brazil mandates that certain documents like charter documents, minutes of meetings and real estate related agreements have to be only in Portuguese. In addition, although documents like shareholders’ agreements, voting agreements and escrow agreements can be in some other language, in case of a conflict in interpretation of the document in the two languages, the Portuguese version of the document will prevail.
Judicial System: The Brazilian judicial system is presently ill-equipped to deal with the issues relating to complex commercial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, the same is both time consuming and expensive, making it unviable to approach the courts for resolutions of any issues.
Diligence Specific Issues: Other than the above, certain diligence specific issues emerge in Brazilian acquisitions. Some of these are briefly set out below:
In Conclusion
Therefore, the key to successful entry in Brazil through acquisition is careful target selection and disciplined due diligence, amongst others. Specifically since many of the above issues also arise in the Indian context, Indian acquirers are well placed to deal with these issues constructively.
Additionally, identification of networked lawyers/ advisors who can work together and advise Indian and Brazilian entities in relation to potential cross-border deals is critical. For example, the authors’ law firms have a close working relationship and assist on India-Brazil corridor deals.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Views expressed are personal.
Satyajit Gupta is leading the Corporate/ M&A team at Advaita Legal. Satyajit has completed his B.A., LL.B. from National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He is dual-qualified to practice laws of India and England. Satyajit is the Committee Liaison Officer of the International Bar Association Asia Pacific Forum and a Vice-Chair of the Asia Pacific Committee of the American Bar Association.
Rodrigo Ferraz de Camargo is the partner responsible for the corporate department at FCAM. Mr. Camargo has a B.A. (L.L.B.) in Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica PUC-SP, an L.L.M. in Corporate Law from PUC-SP, and an L.L.M. in Bank Law from IBMEC – SP. He has work experience in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), succession planning, corporate law, bank law, capital market, civil law, and competition law.
[1] The term “BRIC” was coined in 2001 by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O’Neill, in his publication Building Better Global Economic BRICs. The foreign ministers of the initial four BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006 at the margins of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, beginning a series of high-level meetings. The first full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009.
[2] 1 Brazilian Real = INR 18.37
