Just Flashes in a Pan
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
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The buyout marks the largest leveraged acquisition of a fast-food chain ever, and the second for Burger King in the last eight years.
The whopper-maker’s possible new owner, 3G Capital, is backed by a number of wealthy Brazilians, including billionaire and a former tennis champion who Warren E. Buffett refers to as a good friend.
3G plans to expand Burger King’s foothold internationally, especially in Latin America and Asia.
However, the fast-food chain has struggled in North America, where it generates 70% of its revenue. Just last week the company said it expects weak demand this year and also warned of wheat and beef prices and its possible effects on its bottom line.
Jorge Paulo Lemann, 71, ranks 48 in Forbes’s latest ranking of the world’s billionaires; he is estimated to be worth about 11 billion USD.
Lemann began to amass his fortune through the establishment of Banco de Investimentos Grantia, an investment bank that was sold to Credit Suisse for 675 million USD.
From banking, Mr Lemann moved into beer. Buying into the brewery that eventually became AmBev, his wealth grew when the business merged with European giant Interbrew in 2004 to create InBev. The company has since merged with US rival Anheuser Busch. Little is publicly known about Mr Lemann, other than that early in his life he was a top tennis player in his native country and is reported to have played at Wimbledon. He’s also used some of his fortune to promote the study of Brazil in America, donating 14 million to create the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies at the University of Illinois.
Mr Lemann isn’t the only Brazilian at 3G Capital: Alex Behring, who will become co-chairman of Burger King if the deal goes through, used to run one of the country’s biggest railroads.
The whopper-maker’s possible new owner, 3G Capital, is backed by a number of wealthy Brazilians, including billionaire and a former tennis champion who Warren E. Buffett refers to as a good friend.
3G plans to expand Burger King’s foothold internationally, especially in Latin America and Asia.
However, the fast-food chain has struggled in North America, where it generates 70% of its revenue. Just last week the company said it expects weak demand this year and also warned of wheat and beef prices and its possible effects on its bottom line.
Jorge Paulo Lemann, 71, ranks 48 in Forbes’s latest ranking of the world’s billionaires; he is estimated to be worth about 11 billion USD.
Lemann began to amass his fortune through the establishment of Banco de Investimentos Grantia, an investment bank that was sold to Credit Suisse for 675 million USD.
From banking, Mr Lemann moved into beer. Buying into the brewery that eventually became AmBev, his wealth grew when the business merged with European giant Interbrew in 2004 to create InBev. The company has since merged with US rival Anheuser Busch. Little is publicly known about Mr Lemann, other than that early in his life he was a top tennis player in his native country and is reported to have played at Wimbledon. He’s also used some of his fortune to promote the study of Brazil in America, donating 14 million to create the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies at the University of Illinois.
Mr Lemann isn’t the only Brazilian at 3G Capital: Alex Behring, who will become co-chairman of Burger King if the deal goes through, used to run one of the country’s biggest railroads.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Argentina takeover of paper mill heats up feud with media - Americas - MiamiHerald.com
The Miami Herald fairly aptly describes how the Government is trying to muzzle the press as next year's presidential elections approach. The law they propose would effectively give the government the power to purchase and distribute at will all paper pulp in the country. Imports of pulp would also be banned.
BY CAROLINA BARROS
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
BUENOS AIRES -- In the strongest attack on the media since the country's dictatorship, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has moved to take over the country's largest newsprint mill that provides paper to most of Argentina's newspapers.
But reaction was swift Wednesday to Fernández de Kirchner's decision, announced in a national speech late Tuesday. Newspaper owners and legislators accused her administration of seeking to muzzle the independent media, political manipulation and returning Argentina to a period of ``unlimited authoritarianism.''
Mrs. Kirchner said the newspapers illegally purchased Papel Prensa in 1976 during the military regime, and she accused the papers of crimes against humanity because shareholders had been ``pressured'' by newspapers and the military through ``state terrorism'' to sell the company.
"It is a vertically integrated monopoly,'' she said, adding that ``whoever controls it, controls the written word.''
Opposition parties issued a statement stressing that they ``would defend press freedom'' when the takeover bill is submited to Congress.
The President's action comes amid a long-running feud between her administration and the powerful Clarín Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the country.
It's also the latest in a wider wave of media crackdowns across Latin America. In Venezuela, for example, the administration of President Hugo Chávez has been accused of using the courts to muzzle the media.
Last week, facing international pressure, the Venezuelan government reversed a measure that would have allowed it to ban newspapers and television stations from reporting about the country's soaring crime rate. That ban was announced after an opposition newspaper, El Nacional, ran a grizzly, eight-month old picture of a morgue on its front page.
The clash between Fernández de Kirchner and the independent media was ignited in 2008 when conservative daily La Nación and the Clarín Group sided with the farming sector in its battle against the government's increase in export duties.
After a four-month escalation of street protests and blockades, the bill was defeated in Congress, the first time the president's Peronist Victory Front had lost a congressional vote since 2003.
Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, blamed the loss on the media and especially on the Clarín, a former government supporter.
``The government believes that it is the media that sets the trends in the electoral social order,'' said Sergio Berenstein, a pollster and media analyst. ``They know that a 35 percent support for Cristina and a similar percentage for Nestor won't be enough to win the October 2011's presidential election.
Miami Herald staff writer Jim Wyss contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/25/1792659/in-argentina-crackdown-on-paper.html#storyBody#ixzz0xipMcVl0
BY CAROLINA BARROS
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
BUENOS AIRES -- In the strongest attack on the media since the country's dictatorship, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has moved to take over the country's largest newsprint mill that provides paper to most of Argentina's newspapers.
But reaction was swift Wednesday to Fernández de Kirchner's decision, announced in a national speech late Tuesday. Newspaper owners and legislators accused her administration of seeking to muzzle the independent media, political manipulation and returning Argentina to a period of ``unlimited authoritarianism.''
Mrs. Kirchner said the newspapers illegally purchased Papel Prensa in 1976 during the military regime, and she accused the papers of crimes against humanity because shareholders had been ``pressured'' by newspapers and the military through ``state terrorism'' to sell the company.
"It is a vertically integrated monopoly,'' she said, adding that ``whoever controls it, controls the written word.''
Opposition parties issued a statement stressing that they ``would defend press freedom'' when the takeover bill is submited to Congress.
The President's action comes amid a long-running feud between her administration and the powerful Clarín Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the country.
It's also the latest in a wider wave of media crackdowns across Latin America. In Venezuela, for example, the administration of President Hugo Chávez has been accused of using the courts to muzzle the media.
Last week, facing international pressure, the Venezuelan government reversed a measure that would have allowed it to ban newspapers and television stations from reporting about the country's soaring crime rate. That ban was announced after an opposition newspaper, El Nacional, ran a grizzly, eight-month old picture of a morgue on its front page.
The clash between Fernández de Kirchner and the independent media was ignited in 2008 when conservative daily La Nación and the Clarín Group sided with the farming sector in its battle against the government's increase in export duties.
After a four-month escalation of street protests and blockades, the bill was defeated in Congress, the first time the president's Peronist Victory Front had lost a congressional vote since 2003.
Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, blamed the loss on the media and especially on the Clarín, a former government supporter.
``The government believes that it is the media that sets the trends in the electoral social order,'' said Sergio Berenstein, a pollster and media analyst. ``They know that a 35 percent support for Cristina and a similar percentage for Nestor won't be enough to win the October 2011's presidential election.
Miami Herald staff writer Jim Wyss contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/25/1792659/in-argentina-crackdown-on-paper.html#storyBody#ixzz0xipMcVl0
Uruguay geared to paper pulp industry
According to a report from MercoPress (http://en.mercopress.com), Uruguay has 1.7 million hectares of forests of which almost a million hectares have been planted to feed the growing pulp industry while the rest are so called native forests, according to primary data from an inventory compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture with support from United Nations. This the MercoPress report:
The National Forestry Inventory, INF, took two years to compile involving 21 people demanding 329.000 US dollars funded by FAO.
The results show that planted forests total 959.500 hectares, equivalent to 56% of the whole covered area which was surveyed as 1.721.658 hectares. The remaining 44%, 662.747 hectares are native woods.
Regarding planted forests, even when most (47%) are for the pulp and wood industries, there are also significant percentages related to agriculture (28%) and livestock breeding (18%).
Forests are linked to cattle, flocks and horses bred in open grasslands, since they offer shelter against the wind, cold and the sun.
Regarding water courses associated to the forests, the INF shows that most of them are defined as rivers, as opposed to streams, with virtually no recorded contamination.
“The quality of water is good in the majority of water courses linked to forestry”.
As to the type of soils the report indicates most of them have a slight angle, with a degree of light to moderate erosion. INF describes the selection of soils for planting forests as “good” since they have a good draining system, “essential for the species of trees planted in Uruguay”.
As to environmental problems in the planted forests, regarding water and air quality, invasive species and residual pesticides, they are overall of “low incidence”.
The National Forestry Inventory, INF, took two years to compile involving 21 people demanding 329.000 US dollars funded by FAO.
The results show that planted forests total 959.500 hectares, equivalent to 56% of the whole covered area which was surveyed as 1.721.658 hectares. The remaining 44%, 662.747 hectares are native woods.
Regarding planted forests, even when most (47%) are for the pulp and wood industries, there are also significant percentages related to agriculture (28%) and livestock breeding (18%).
Forests are linked to cattle, flocks and horses bred in open grasslands, since they offer shelter against the wind, cold and the sun.
Regarding water courses associated to the forests, the INF shows that most of them are defined as rivers, as opposed to streams, with virtually no recorded contamination.
“The quality of water is good in the majority of water courses linked to forestry”.
As to the type of soils the report indicates most of them have a slight angle, with a degree of light to moderate erosion. INF describes the selection of soils for planting forests as “good” since they have a good draining system, “essential for the species of trees planted in Uruguay”.
As to environmental problems in the planted forests, regarding water and air quality, invasive species and residual pesticides, they are overall of “low incidence”.
Argentine pickets again closing international bridge between Uruguay and Argentina
Despite the Argentine government’s commitment to keep the bridge open between Argentina and Uruguay, local pickets will next Sunday again block it, hampering traffic between the two nations.
As of this writing there has been no news from official sources on the illegal measure.
The pickets decided to take this course of action after a vote in Gualeguaychú, Entre Rios on the Argentine side. The blockage will continue through September on every Sunday thus going against the agreement between the Uruguayan and Argentine governments reached recently. The pickets allege, with no official proof, that the former Botnia (today UPM) paper pulp plant located in the neighboring city of Fray Bentos is polluting the river. According to the recent agreement between both nations at presidential level, a team of scientists from both countries will be assigned the task of controlling waters of the River Uruguay in all its extension bordering both countries.
As of this writing there has been no news from official sources on the illegal measure.
The pickets decided to take this course of action after a vote in Gualeguaychú, Entre Rios on the Argentine side. The blockage will continue through September on every Sunday thus going against the agreement between the Uruguayan and Argentine governments reached recently. The pickets allege, with no official proof, that the former Botnia (today UPM) paper pulp plant located in the neighboring city of Fray Bentos is polluting the river. According to the recent agreement between both nations at presidential level, a team of scientists from both countries will be assigned the task of controlling waters of the River Uruguay in all its extension bordering both countries.
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