Important Headlines
📰 Citibank & Gauteng to Fund $72 Million Mega-City Project in Johannesburg
The seven-year loan facility will invest in infrastructure to establish the project which is expected to attract as much as ZAR 30 billion (i.e., $1.5 billion) of additional investment. The PPP development will contain a new international airport, and logistics, manufacturing and agricultural hubs. It is located in the south of Johannesburg on nearly 3,000 acres (i.e., 1,200 hectares).
📰 Citibank Mexico opts for IPO Instead of Private Sale
Last week’s Weekly Roundup highlighted Mexico’s govt seizing a portion of railway owned by a Mexican billionaire imminently to purchase Mexico’s Citibank holdings, Banamex. That $7 billion sale has been scrapped and now the bank intends to list on the Mexican stock exchange, perhaps through a dual listing also in NYC. Citibank purchased Banamex in 2001 for $12.5 billion.
📰 Cartagena, Colombia’s Port Ranked Top 5 in World
Cartagena’s port has been identified as the 5th most efficient port in the world and the main one in Latin America. Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas was 43rd, and Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul ranked 50th. America’s top port was ranked 44th in Wilmington, NC. Chile’s Coronel port ranked #1 in the world for ports handling less than 500,000 TEU containers.
📰 IFC to Double Lending in Mexico to $1 Billion
The move is primarily based on the opportunities the development bank sees to lend into the Nearshoring movement. This wave of nearshoring was spurred on, controversially at the time, by President Donald Trump and is now going in a direction greatly benefiting Mexico.
📰 Brazil’s Wealthiest Family Seeking More CRE Exposure in America
Votorantim SA, is looking to diversify for the first time into multifamily and commercial real estate investments in America. It opened an office in NYC in 2021 so has been hunting and assessing the market at least since then. The family is the Ermirio de Moraes family which is involved in banking, cement, infrastructure, orange juice, aluminum and power in 19 countries. Good candidate to buy prime Manhattan office buildings with low rents caused by remote work.
📰 Ashley Furniture Arrives in Colombia
The Wisconsin retailer plans to open 10 stores in the next 5 years, the first store opening slated for June in Bogota. The retailer has 1,000 stores in total, 80 of which are in Latin America. Its global sales last year were $7 billion.
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New Emerging Real Estate Insights and Podcasts
💡 Troubling Trend of LATAM Retailers Owning Malls
