Structural Changes And Specialization In Brazilian Industry: The Evolution Of Leading Companies And The M&A Process

This paper analyzes changes in the Brazilian productive structure and in ownership structures of leading companies during the 1990s. It uses information from balance sheets published in Gazeta Mercantil and from the Thomson Financial Securities Data database on M&A. The main findings are: (i) the sectoral distribution of leading companies has remained stable; (ii) there has been a strong change in the ownership structure in Brazil, with an increase in the participation of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the sample of leading companies; (iii) this increase in participation may be partially, though not integrally, explained by MA transactions; (iv) though the M&A process has been quite intensive in the period, productive concentration has decreased among the group of leading companies; and (v) acquiring firms have adopted specializing strategies during the period. This trend is even clearer when private national enterprises (PNEs) are examined separately.