Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Zell’s Equity Int’l eyes Brazil home builders

Billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell, who built a fortune investing in distressed property, sees opportunity in the beaten-down shares of Brazilian home builders and plans further investments in Brazil.Zell’s international private equity arm, Equity International, is betting that a consolidation of Brazil’s overcrowded publicly traded real estate sector will unfold by mid-2009 or early 2010.

Realty was a major focus of Brazil’s recent boom in public stock offerings, but too many companies entered the sector, Gary Garrabrant, Equity International’s chief executive and co-founder, said in an interview. Many have since seen their shares plunge and investors are demanding better performance.

Equity International, through its stake in Brazilian home-builder Gafisa hopes to pick up land when the shake-out squeezes management that cannot deliver.

read the rest published by Reuters here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssRealEstateOperations/idUSN1846635420080819