Brazilian Billionaire Esteves in Talks to Sell 15 Percent of BTG Pactual

Brazilian billionaire Andre Esteves is in talks with a group of investors from Singapore to sell a stake of about 15 percent of his Banco BTG Pactual SA to fund expansion, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

BTG, Brazil’s biggest equity underwriter, may conclude talks with the group led by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd in about a month, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks aren’t public. The person didn’t provide details about the value of the deal and said the sale wouldn’t alter BTG’s plans for an initial public offering.

The bank, which Esteves and partners bought back from UBS AG for $2.5 billion last year, has invested in partnerships and acquisitions in sectors that have benefited the most from Brazil’s strong consumer demand, which helped fuel growth of 1.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous period and an 8.8 percent jump from the previous year.

GIC, as the sovereign fund is known, was in talks with BTG to buy a 16 percent stake for $2.4 billion, according to a report today in Exame magazine, which cited people familiar with the negotiations. GIC said in an e-mail it had no comment on the article when contacted by Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adriana Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro at abrasileiro@bloomberg.net