Chinese Haitong stops using the brand BESI and promises to expand operations in the country

Nine months after buying Banco Espírito Santo’s assets, the Chinese group Haitong received approval from more than ten regulators, among them the Brazilian Central Bank, to conclude the acquisition of 397 million made in December 2014.

The operation involves the immediate rebranding of the bank worldwide. The second biggest investment bank in China says the change of the name will be accompanied by an increase in investments in several subsidiaries, including the Brazilian one.

Besi’s acquisition, Banco Espirito Santo’s investment branch, happened after the establishment of Novo Banco – the bank that gathered good assets of bankrupt Banco Espírito Santo.  Haitong decided to move on without Besi. To turn the page, the group will focus on introducing Haitong Group in the upcoming weeks to future clients, according to Haitong Bank's CEO, José Maria Ricciardi, which belongs to the Espirito Santo family and was maintained by the Chinese leading the investment bank.

“The Espirito Santo brand was hampered (by the scandal reverberation). It makes no sense to keep it”, Ricciardi said.  The company aims to show that the change will benefit. “Even when BES was at their peak, there were always limitation to growth due to the size of Portugal's economy”. They will run an advertising campaign in the 15 countries where the investment branch was present. It will try to show that the name Haitong comes with a bigger capacity of investment.

 In Brazil, the current management will be maintained and it should gain reinforcements in the investment area in the next weeks. According to Ricciardi, the objective is to continue the hiring process in the country, despite the economic crisis. “We may not be the biggest investment bank in Brazil, but we will certainly be amongst the most prestigious institutions”

Bridge to Asia - The purpose is Haitong’s Brazilian subsidiary is to work as a “bridge” to attract Chinese investors to local companies and to the possibility of exploring issuances in Asia markets. “We have a bank in Brazil that is not a pure subsidiary. And we still have Bradesco as a partner that holds a 20% stake”.

During 2015, Besi held a road show with the main institutional investors and Brazilian banks to explain the business possibilities. The bank is interested in the commodities area, infrastructure sector, and private equity.

According to the executive, the internationalization of investment is a Chinese need, since the internal market is starting to weaken. “Chinese investment banks want the same thing that American banks did in the past: to use the internal economy money to grow abroad”. Ricciardi says that banks such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch grew based on this strategy. Haitong will try to repeat their success.