cvc capital partners to open office in brazil take on banker as head of latin america dealbookcvc capital plans so paulo office 9 2015rio de janeiro the private equity firm cvc capital partners plans to open an office in so paulo and take on a prominent brazilian investment banker to run itjeanmarc etlin will join as head of the latin america operation beginning in january cvc said in a statement on wednesday mr etlin is the longtime chief executive of ita bba investment bank part of banco ita which he joined in 2005in the decade that followed he played a key role in its rise both when brazils economy boomed and experienced a record number of initial public offerings but also in recent years when mergers and acquisitions have become the only viable exits for companies here and when private equitys role in those deals grewcvc based in luxembourg said it expected to look for opportunities throughout latin america from its so paulo office and make investments from the cvc capital partners vi fund the fund was raised in 2013 pulling in about 109 billion euros or 15 billion based on exchange rates at the time according to the firmbrazil is mired in recession with the economy contracting for three consecutive quarters and goldman sachs recently warned of a possible depression nevertheless bertrand meunier a managing partner at cvc said in the statement that we believe now is the right time to build a strong local and experienced team in brazil and latin americacvc which has 23 other offices worldwide has yet to make an investment in brazil a person close to the firm said its website names more than 250 companies that make up its historical portfolio but not one is from latin americacompared with other international private equity firms cvc appears to be making a late entry into latin america advent international where mr etlins brother patrice etlin is a managing director has been making investments here since the late 1990s the carlyle group formed a south america team in 2008last year kohlberg kravis roberts and bain capital each made their first direct investments in brazilstill there remains space for private equity here especially as capital and financing become more and more scarce amid few signs of improvement in the economydeals continue to take place even if the dollar volume is down according to dealogic the number of deals in brazil so far this year is 643 only one less than the 644 made during the same period last yearmr etlin a former rugby player and advisory board member at sothebys has been an adviser on numerous deals for ita bba that involved private equity firmsjeanmarcs reputation and experience will be of great value to cvc capital partners and allow us to build out our presence in this exciting market mr meunier said