Fund raising and private equity investment in Latin America set new records in 2009, according to the just released Venture Equity Latin America’s 2009 Year-End Report, published by Thomson Reuters, WorldTrade Executive brand.

Fundraising for the region reached a total of $5.03 billion in 2009, showing a renewed confidence that investors have in the region. The report documents deals of $2.8 billion, and exits worth $3.5 billion.

In many sectors including renewable energy production, housing and healthcare, investments were on the rise, but it was the financial services sector that dominated and had the biggest investments, mainly due to the development of the middle class across Latin America driving tremendous growth.

One growing trend in the region has been investments in the consumer products sector, as the economy is heating up and consumer spending is on the rise. Much of this activity was in Brazil, where strategic investments have been internet-related as a growing number of Brazilians have access to both personal computers and internet. As a result, Brazil became the fifth largest computer market in the world, and private equity investments in computer software totaled $342 million in 2009.

In total, Brazil had private equity investments of $2.34 billion in 2009 as compared to $1.98 billion in 2008.

Areas attracting large investments in Mexico during the year included the healthcare services, microfinance and hospitality sectors, where investments focused on lending support to underserved Mexican populations at the base of the pyramid. Investments in Mexico increased from $129.5 million in 2008 to $241 million in 2009.

By the end of 2009, there had been 40 fund closings with much of the fundraising activities centered in Brazil, Colombia and regionally.

Venture Equity Latin America’s Year-End Report provides detailed analysis of deals, fund raising and exits so that the user can track industry trends with year-to-year comparison data.

Venture Equity Latin America is a twice-monthly publication that delivers comprehensive information on the Latin American private equity and venture capital industry. The focus of the publication is on venture capital and private equity deal flow; new fund raising endeavors; exit activity; restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings impacting existing investments; and regulatory developments.

The publisher, WorldTrade Executive, Inc., a part of Thomson Reuters, also publishes Latin American Law and Business Report and Practical Latin American Tax Strategies, as well as other periodicals and reports covering international transactions.

Save yourself months of research and order today!