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By Paulo Winterstein
Sam Zell’s Equity International may open a real estate financing company in Brazil as record-low interest rates in Latin America’s biggest economy boost demand for alternative investments.
Equity International is seeking partners to grow Brazil’s “still nascent” real estate financing market, Chief Strategic Officer and Vice President of Investments Thomas McDonald said in an interview in Sao Paulo. The real estate investment company hasn’t found a partner yet to begin those operations and may open its own company to provide financing to real estate developers, he said.
Brazil is the “number one country in the world for investments,” billionaire investor Zell said in a CNBC interview. A 5 percentage point cut in Brazil’s Selic interest rate this year to 8.75 percent and a 34-billion real ($18 billion) housing stimulus plan announced by the government in March have boosted demand for residential and commercial real estate investments, McDonald said.
“Real estate specialty financing is a sector that is still nascent in Brazil and there are opportunities here that aren’t being met in a scalable way,” McDonald said. “We haven’t yet found the right platform to do that. At some point we’ll find the right one or we’ll create it ourselves.”
The Vice President didn’t give a timeline for when they may begin real estate financing operations in Brazil.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=ay8a7HUdBj5g