Bloomberg Línea — Argentine software unicorn Globant (GLOB) announced Friday its arrival in the European DACH region, which covers Germany, Austria and Switzerland, through the opening of its offices in Berlin.
The pandemic-driven boom in the technology and healthcare sectors accelerated mergers and acquisitions last year, according to a survey by RGS Partners, an M&A boutique specializing in medium-sized companies. Last year, the country had 280 transactions with this profile, more than 50% above the 186 transactions carried out in 2020.
On the stock markets, all of Latin America’s exchanges closed with gains on Friday, led by Mexico, which closed with a gain of 1.20%. Grupo Financiero Inbursa (GFINBURO), Grupo Carso (GCARSOA1) and Grupo México (GMEXICOB) shares recorded the best performance of the day.
Following is a roundup of Friday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina
- Argentine software unicorn Globant announced Friday its arrival in the European DACH region, which covers Germany, Austria and Switzerland, through the opening of its offices in Berlin.
- Argentine outbound tourist numbers were almost twice that of non-resident tourists entering the country by air during the fourth quarter of 2021, according to data published this week by statistic bureau INDEC.
- The Central Bank of Uruguay disclosed the assets under management of investment advisors and portfolio managers from Argentina in 2020, revealing that 18,850 Argentines hold a total of $16.41 billion invested in that country.
Brazil
- The pandemic-driven boom in the technology and healthcare sectors accelerated mergers and acquisitions last year, according to a survey by RGS Partners, an M&A boutique specializing in medium-sized companies. Last year, the country had 280 transactions with this profile, more than 50% above the 186 transactions of the previous year.
Chile
- Chile’s peso (CLP:CUR) could not have had a better streak this week, after outperforming other emerging market currencies on the back of a better copper outlook. The appreciation of the Andean currency may pique investors’ interest, but there are doubts as to how much longer its strength could continue.
Colombia
- Bank of America has raised to 8% its forecast for how far Colombia’s central bank will raise interest rates from a previous estimate of 7.5%, due to “challenging inflationary conditions,” wrote economist Alexander Müller in a note.
- The Ministry of Finance surprised the market with the presentation of the 2022 financial plan, and for many market participants it is seen as moving in the right direction.
Costa Rica
- Costa Rica’s first round of voting in the presidential elections on Sunday 6 February saw an abstention rate of 40.29%, meaning almost half of the electoral roll did not exercise their right to vote. Despite there being 25 presidential candidates, a large percentage of Costa Ricans did not identify with any of the governance proposals.
Ecuador
- Ecuador formalized its debt renegotiation proposal to China on Friday. This was stated by the Foreign Minister of the Republic, Juan Carlos Holguin in a television interview, in which he also said that there is full political will of both countries to restructure the bilateral financing amounting to $5.11 billion.
- As part of Quito’s competitiveness strategy, Ecuador is planning to create sectoral clusters and wants to reinvent its industry with 20 new sectors.
El Salvador
- President Nayib Bukele has announced projects to encourage tourism, including an investment of $100 million in the beaches of the central region of the department of La Libertad, part of the SurfCity project. He also recently inaugurated the expansion of El Salvador’s international airport and announced an agreement with carrier Avianca to promote the country’s brand in Los Angeles, United States.
Mexico
- Grupo Aeroméxico (AEROMEX*), one of the country’s main airlines, was affected by the problems experienced by its peers in the United States and Europe during December, due to a lack of personnel as a result of Covid-19 infections.
- Mexico and the United States continue to endure a tense relationship over the future of energy and senior officials have met to discuss, at least twice this year so far, the Mexican government’s energy reform.
