In the year that marks the bicentenary of diplomatic relationships, France continues to show a strong interest in Brazil. In 2024, the French consolidated as the second largest group of investors through mergers and acquisitions in the Brazilian market, in sectors such as infrastructure, transport, energy, among others. This partnership tends to remain prosperous, according to experts and entrepreneurs listened to by RFI.
In the year that marks the bicentenary of diplomatic relationships, France continues to show a strong interest in Brazil. In 2024, the French consolidated as the second largest group of investors through mergers and acquisitions in the Brazilian market, in sectors such as infrastructure, transport, energy, among others. This partnership tends to remain prosperous, according to experts and entrepreneurs listened to by RFI.
The Brazil PWC consultancy firm indicates a 50% increase in the number of activities closed in 2024 compared to the previous year, with 21 mergers and acquisitions made by French companies in the Brazilian market.
An example is Swile, specialized in flexible advantages such as voucher and valleys, which already has 220 employees and 800,000 users of their cards in Brazil, both for food, fuel, prizes or other purposes. The company operates in the Brazilian market by the acquisition of Vee Benefits, the first Brazilian startup has focused on the benefits.
In an interview with RFICEO of Swile in France, Loïc Sobeyrande, explains why Brazil is a strategic market: “The country has a modern and strongly regulated financial system, not to mention the fact that the Brazilians are pioneers in the adoption of new technologies,” he says. “The solidity of labor law in both countries also creates a natural affinity”, continues the French manager. “Brazil is not just a large market, it is also a strategic country for innovation and global growth,” he concludes.
According to the CEO of Swile in Brazil, Júlio Brito, the company’s expectation is to achieve profitability in the country in 2025. “With the acquisition of Bimpri, the BPC group, the second largest bank in France, had a 22%participation. This has brought us much more solidity and opportunity”, he says in an interview with an interview RFI.
The executive comments on the acquisition by the French group and the opportunities it represented: “Today we offer up to eight benefits in a single card, simply, without various plastic materials in the wallet. It is a profit of efficiency for human resources (human resources) and the employee, who has much more freedom of use”, he adds. “We offer companies an ultra -modern solution so that they can afford good and valleys to employees. The Brazilian market is one of the largest in the world, with over 20 million beneficial workers and invoices about $ 150 billion per year – is the largest in the world in volume”, he says.
Who also wins the Brazilian consumer. “Having a valley that works as a credit card is a good solution, makes my life much easier. I can spend the amount I get everywhere,” explains the journalist Marianna Perri.
He underlines the advantages of being a service user and the trust he hears in a French company: “It also works in the cellular wallet, I don’t need to walk with a plastic card out there. As a user, it is much easier for me and the company. I take my valleys – food and meal – and I have help for the home office”, he continues. “I feel very comfortable in knowing that it is a French company behind. The French companies in Brazil have a strong and relevant reputation, and this brings me security that I will not lose money, that the card will not be interrupted”, concludes.
Another culminating point is the CMA CGM Navigation Company, which has announced the purchase of the operator Santos Brasil, in a company of $ 13.2 billion, through which the French company became an operator of one of the main Brazilian ports.
Already present in national airports, the French Vinci won the auction for the extraordinary concession between Goiás and Minas Gerais, with investments expected of 6.5 billion dollars.
Winner of Aneel (National Electric Agency), French Engie should invest $ 3 billion in transmission lines in Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and EspÃrito Santo.
Thousands of direct jobs
Retail, defense, waste, pharmaceutical products, inputs and agricultural events are other branches. The 1,100 French companies installed in Brazil are already among the major employers of the country, with a maximum of 700,000 direct jobs.
“These are not recent investments, not as if Brazil had been discovered now. However, there is an interesting movement of small and medium companies that today look at Latin America as a place of great interest”, explains Pedro Antônio Gouvêa Vieira, director of the France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce.
The attraction for the Brazilian market has been constant, although with a faster pace in recent years due to certain factors. “Political and territorial stability, peace with neighboring countries. It is a region that does not have an atomic bomb, it does not offer insecurity to anyone”, says the manager, who also presides over the board of directors of Lida France. “This shows that Brazil is an attractive destination and I have no doubts that French investments in Brazil tend to develop even more. Especially with recent adjustments in world geopolitics, our country has gained giant visibility in Europe as a whole – and certainly in France, in particular,” he adds.
“We often say that an average Brazilian consumer will use at least one French product during the day, even unconsciously,” he says. “We have 100 million consumers who use a French product every day, directly or indirectly,” he adds.
In addition to the dimensions of the Brazilian market, the bet of the French companies in Brazil is linked to the global repositioning of investments, in particular after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the commercial war between the United States and China. More recently, the devaluation of reality has become another attraction.
Source: Terra
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