* Latin America, excl. Brazil, tops list of EM PE
destinations
* Less penetrated markets like Turkey, sub-Saharan Africa
become more popular
* India, Central and Eastern Europe slip in rankings
* PE investors could look to Greece for opportunities
By Clare Kane
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – Latin America, excluding
Brazil, has overtaken that country to become the number one
destination for emerging market private equity investors over
the next year, as they prefer Mexico, Colombia and Peru,
according to a survey released on Friday.
Latin America jumped from fourth to first place in the
Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) 2012 survey
of 106 private equity investors in 28 countries, with Brazil,
China and southeast Asia trailing as favoured places.
“People will point to the attractive macroeconomic
fundamentals in (Latin America), sizable populations but also an
emerging middle class and rising spending levels among large
portions of those populations,” said Jennifer Choi, vice
president of industry and external affairs at EMPEA.
“The reality is with several billion dollar-plus funds
raised for Brazil in 2011, investors are rightfully thinking
about what sorts of valuations that might create with the number
of funds, and what impact that might have on returns.”
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