Brazilian fund sees 7x chemicals exit

BPE Investimentos, a Sao Paulo-based private equity unit of Brasilpar, has exited its stake in Getec Guanabara, a sucro-chemical company.

The exit provided a 7-times return for BPE Investimentos, according to Duncan Littlejohn, a partner at the firm. Littlejohn declined to state the size of the transaction, but noted that it was less than $100 million. BPE invests in small and medium sized companies in Brazil.

The stake was sold to a subsidiary of Polyols, a company owned by Corn Products Brasil and UK corporation SPI.

The Betec investment was made in 1997 from a fund called Fundo Mutuo de Investimento em Empresas Emergentes (FIRE), which is backed primarily by the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) – Brazil’s main development bank.

BPE has invested in 15 portfolio companies with an aggregate market value of R$1.5 billion (US$700 million; €550 million).

The firm also manages the Brazilian portfolio of the South America Private Equity Growth Fund Coinvestors.