Bloomberg Línea — Argentine online travel company Despegar has acquired a 51% stake in Stays.net, a vacation rental management company in Brazil. Founded in 2016, Stays.net offers a vacation rental property management system to owners, brokers and managers of temporary accommodation in South America’s largest country.
Ecuadorian shrimp and banana exporters are seeing shipments to Russia halted as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Banana farmers said 765,000 boxes of bananas are at risk of not being exported this week.
On the stock markets, Argentina’s Merval index (Merval) rebounded after Wednesday’s losses and closed with a hike of 3.50%, buoyed by the shares of Byma, Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGSU2) and Cresud (CRES). Chile’s Ipsa (IPSA) index saw the worst region’s performance, dropping 1.01%.
Following is a roundup of Thursday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina:
- Argentine online travel agency Despegar has acquired a 51% stake in Stays.net, a vacation rental management company in Brazil. Founded in 2016, Stays.net offers a vacation rental property management system to owners, brokers and managers of temporary accommodation in South America’s largest country. The Argentine travel unicorn said the purchase is the “consolidation” of its strategy initiated with the acquisition of Viajes Falabella, Best Day and Koin.
- Argentina’s economy put the brakes on its recovery in January and recorded its steepest monthly decline since May of last year, amid technical stoppages, lower activity in factories due to summer vacations and staffing difficulties due to Covid-19.
Brazil:
- The president of the best performing bank on the Brazilian stock exchange said Thursday that investors should not fear the possibility of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in the October presidential elections, as long as he appoints a market-friendly economic team. During the day, the former president once again criticized the price parity policy adopted by Petrobras (PETR4) and said he would discuss it again if elected.
Chile:
- Chile’s president-elect Gabriel Boric, who will take office this Friday, March 11, will have opponents in different sectors during his term, and not only among the right wing, as well as in the Senate, according to analysts consulted by Bloomberg Línea.
Colombia:
- Bionergy has been given the green light for its reorganization agreement in Colombia, after the country’s business regulatory body allowed for the entry of an investor and the restructuring of its debt.
- Airline Avianca has reinstated 104 of the pilots dismissed during the 2017 strike, and will be trained until December before rejoining the carrier’s flight crew. .
Dominican Republic:
- President Luis Abinader met with his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernández, with the two leaders discussing hydrocarbon development between both countries, and health cooperation.
- The country must open up to cryptocurrency regulation as others in the region have done, Bitpoint’s commercial and marketing director Ricardo Armenta told Bloomberg Línea that
Ecuador:
- Concern is growing among Ecuadorian exporters. As shrimp farmers have seen their exports to Russia halted as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, banana farmers have announced that 765,000 boxes of bananas are at risk of not being exported this week because “buyers in Russia can no longer purchase the product due to the devaluation of their currency”, and because “several ports are suffering complications due to uncertainty and danger”.
El Salvador:
- The country’s Bitcoin law has areas for improvement to accompany the implementation of the cryptocurrency as legal tender in the country, according to the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador, Jorge Hasbún.
Guatemala:
- During the second half of 2021 the processed food and beverage industry in Guatemala enjoyed growth in domestic sales, exports and imports. These are the 10 most exported and imported products in Guatemala’s food and beverage sector.
Mexico:
- Nu Holdings (NU), a Brazilian financial services firm, has listed on the Mexican stock market.
- Advent International has purchased Perrigo’s drug business in Mexico and Brazil.
- State-owned oil company Pemex has asked its competitors to avoid reaping unjustified profits from the increase in fuel prices as the price of oil soars..
Peru:
- Political instability persists in Peru, with the Renovación Popular party presenting a new motion of removal against the president on Thursday, with the support of 50 congress members.
Uruguay:
- Uruguayan pharmaceutical company Adium will be Moderna’s “local muscle” in Latin America. The core of the agreement will be the management of new contracts, but the two companies also aim to “prepare the ground” to later sell vaccine doses to private companies.