São Paulo – In 2013, Brazilian companies became more international than in 2012. According to a survey conducted by Dom Cabral Foundation, last year Brazilian companies attained 22.9% of internationalization. In 2012, the rate was 21.3%. The study covered 52 multinational companies and 14 companies which operate abroad via franchises.
The internationalization or transnationality index is the result of three calculations performed by the Dom Cabral Foundation: ratio of assets abroad to total assets; ratio of foreign revenue to total revenue; and ratio of foreign workforce to total workforce.
As per these ratios, construction company Norberto Odebrecht was the most international business in 2013, with a 0.549 score. Next on the list are Gerdau (steel), InterCement (cement), Stefanini (software consulting), Metalfrio (refrigerators), Magnesita (steel), Marfrig (meat), JBS (meat), Artecola (chemicals) and Ibope (statistics institute). This was the first time in the last four editions of the ranking that JBS did not top the list.
The ranking of companies active in the highest number of countries is topped by Stefanini, operating in 32 countries, followed by the electric engine manufacturer WEG, active in 31 countries, the mining company Vale, in 27 countries, bus manufacturer Marcopolo (25) and the bank Banco do Brasil (24).
In revenues, JBS leads the ranking, followed by Norberto Odebrecht, Magnesita, Marfrig and Gerdau. The ranking by assets is topped by Magnesita, followed by the meat plant Minerva Foods, Stefanini, Metalfrio and Gerdau. In the workforce index, the most international company is InterCement, followed by Marfrig, JBS, Metalfrio and Gerdau.
The ranking has shown that the Brazilian multinationals surveyed operate in 89 countries. The United States has the strongest Brazilian presence: 39 companies in total, followed by Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, China, Venezuela, Paraguay, Portugal, Bolivia and the United Kingdom.
Countries and franchises
Among the Arab countries, Brazilian companies are present in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Oman. In Kuwait, Brazilian companies operate via franchises only. The survey shows that in 2013 five Brazilian companies fled Argentina due to its struggling economy. Brazilian companies did not flee Arab countries; in fact Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Lebanon received one new Brazilian company each.
The most internationalized franchise-based company was car rental group Localiza, followed by the natural food store chain Mundo Verde, grooming parlor chain DepylAction, eyewear retailer Chilli Beans, shoe retailer Datelli, clothes manufacturer Hering, fast food chain Giraffas, yoghurt store chain Yogoberry, shoe store chain Arezzo and beauty spa Magrass.
As regards franchises, the index is calculated based on ratio of stores abroad to total number of stores; royalties from foreign operations to total royalties; and revenue from foreign franchisees’ sales in comparison to total franchisees’ sales.
According to the survey, 65.1% of the companies surveyed plan on expanding their operations in countries they already operate in this year, and 55.6% plan on entering new countries. The survey’s coordinator, Sherban Cretoiu, said the companies were more optimistic about sales abroad than domestic sales, which may be related to the slowdown in Brazil’s economy.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
