Aug 30, 2012

The public call-to-bid to select a manager for the Criatec II fund is already available on the BNDES website. The new Investment Fund is aimed at innovative companies with annual net revenue up to R$ 10 million recorded in the year prior to the approval of the fund’s investment.

Assets committed to Criatec II will be at least R$170 million, and the BNDES’ stake may reach up to 80% of this amount, limited to R$136 million. The Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB) will commit up to R$ 30 million.

The Development Bank of Rio Grande do Sul (Badesul) and the Development Bank of Minas Gerais (BDMG) will also be quotaholders in the fund with contributions of up to R$ 10 million each. Both will participate in order to invest in projects in their respective regions. Other institutional investors may become quotaholders in the fund even after the publication of this call-to-bid.

Criatec II will have a national manager and at least six regional managers who will work in six areas, split into at least four regions across the country. At first, only the national manager will be selected by the fund’s investors. The regional managers require the approval of Criatec II’s investment committee for the first 12 months of the fund’s operation.

The areas of activity will be distributed as follows: one manager in Rio Grande do Sul; one in São Paulo; one in Minas Gerais; one in Rio de Janeiro; one in the Federal District and/or in Goiás; one in Bahia and/or Ceará and/or Rio Grande do Norte. The fund may have more than six activity areas, even outside the aforementioned locations, provided they are approved by the investment committee.

Managers interested in taking part in the Criatec II selection process should submit their proposals in print and electronic versions by October 11, 2012. Further information on the selection process is available here.

Criatec I – The launch of Criatec II is the result of the positive results obtained by the first version of the Criatec fund, which started operating in October 2007. It was a pioneer in injecting funds into 36 small or startup businesses with a strong innovative profile, of which many were linked to the main incubators or technology industries in the country. Currently, many startup businesses are already operating in the market after the development of innovative products and products of cutting edge technology.

Criatec I has 36 companies in its portfolio, spread across the fund’s seven operational regions. The fund’s investments period is now closed, although its term of duration is 10 years, and it has investment commitments from the BNDES to the tune of R$ 80 million and a further R$ 20 million from the BNB.

Criatec III – The BNDES will hold a new public call-to-bid to select the Manager for Criatec III within one year as of this date. The fund will have the same structure as the Criatec II Fund, with the exception of the activity areas, which will have a manager in the following states: one in Paraná and/or Santa Catarina; one in São Paulo; one in Minas Gerais; one in Rio de Janeiro; one in Amazonas and/or Pará; one in Pernambuco and/or Paraíba.