Historical Notes: The Brazilian stock market, Deltec, and Clarence Dauphinot Brazilian Stock Market, Clarence Dauphinot and Deltec

Historical Notes (Continued)

Deltec and the Emerging Brazilian Stock Market

Deltec S.A : Founded by an American expatriate investment banker, Clarence Dauphinot Jr. (1913-1995), this company began selling equity door-to-door in Rio de Janeiro in 1948 with the highly successful placement of shares of Listas Telefônicas Brasileiras S.A.

Listas Telefônicas was founded by another expatriate American, Gilbert Huber Jr. in the years following World War II. In those days, the Rio de Janeiro telephone company was a government monopoly and there was no commercial directory of telephone numbers. Gilbert Huber Jr., in exchange for exclusive rights to sell advertisements in the yellow pages, agreed to publish both the white and yellow pages for free. Gilbert Huber gave the young Clarence Dauphinot a contract to sell stock to finance this venture. Dauphinot recruited and trained salesmen to sell Listas Telefônicas stock door-to-door. The venture was successful and both Huber and Dauphinot were icons of successful capital market entrepreneurship for the next twenty years.

By 1960, Deltec had made 38 underwritings, including such companies as Cia. Brasileira de Energia Eléctrica, Cia. Paulista de Força e Luz, Cia. Energia Eléctrica Rio Grandense, Cia. Fôrça e Luz do Paraná, Cia. Telefônica do Espírito Santo, Cimento Aratú S.A., Arno S.A., Dunlop do Brasil S.A., Cia. Brasileira de Roupas S.A., A Sensação Modas S.A., Manufaturas de Brinquedos Estrela S.A., Máquinas Piratininga S.A., Vemag S.A., Willys Overland do Brasil S.A., Cia. Siderúrgica Paulista COSIPA, Cia. Brasileira de Petrôlio Ipiranga S.A., Banco Hipotecário Lar Brasileiro S.A., and the four Valéria closed-end mutual funds.

Willys Overland do BrasilVemag was one of the companies whose shares Deltec sold to the public

In 1960, Deltec's executive directors were Clarence Joseph Dauphinot Jr., Paulo Neves de Souza Quartin, David Beatty III, and Harry Wentworth Hollmeyer.

Deltec's mode of operation was to contract for best-effort placement of stocks, selling door-to-door, with commissions averaging around 25% and with best-efforts underwriting periods lasting as long as two years.

Most stocks were of well-known companies, but almost no financial disclosure was made to investors. A common tactic was to offer discounts on company products to shareholders. For example, subscribers to stock of Willys Overland do Brasil were given a discount on a new jeep.

Deltec paid little attention to the secondary market in shares they sold. A lack of liquidity following its underwritings eventually contributed to Deltec losing its position in the market.

Willys offered public shareholders a discount on its automobiles

By the mid-1960s, with the reform of the stock exchanges, Deltec faded from the scene.

In 1966, the assets of Deltec were incorporated into the newly formed Banco de Investimento do Brasil, the investment bank of the Moreira Salles group.

The early shareholders in Deltec S.A. included major U.S. and European investment houses, including Deutsches Bank and Schroeders, and powerful Brazilian groups such as Monteiro, Aranha Engenharia, Comércio, Industria S.A.; Banco Mercantil de São Paulo S.A., and Banco Comércio e Indústria de Minas Gerais.

Other share distributors that were observed at the time included:

  • Cia. Standard de Investimentos (Recife, 1954) : This company made twenty underwritings by 1960, mostly refrigerated warehouses and telephone companies in Northeastern Brazil;
  • Consôrcio Brasileiro de Investimentos S.A. (São Paulo, 1951) : This company made twenty underwritings by 1960, mostly in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. The directors were Roberto C. Suplicy, Thomas Archibaldo Cowie Scott, and Mozart Emygdio.
  • Taba S.A. Crédito, Financiamento e Investimentos (Rio de Janeiro) : Underwrote the distribution of S.A. Radio Guaraní.
  • CREFISA - Crédito, Financiamento e Investimentos (Rio de Janeiro) : Underwrote the distribution of IFCA - Indústria de Fios e Cabos S.A. ;
  • Seges S.A. (São Paulo): Three underwritings in the São Paulo region by 1960. The directors were Ignácio de Aragão, Francisco Pinto Jr., and Cyro Suarez Kurtz.
  • Lanery Ltda. (São Paulo) : Underwriter of Fábrica Nacional de Ferramentos S.A.

learning Module Learning Module: Steps : Continued >

copyright | privacy | home