Brazil’s Antitrust Body Clears Batista Brothers’ Acquisition of Strategic Missile Manufacturer Avibras
CADE’s General Superintendence approved the purchase of defense firm Avibras by the Batistas' personal investment vehicle, signaling a major private rescue of a strategic national asset.
Brazil’s main antitrust regulator has cleared the path for the country’s most prominent agribusiness family to take control of Avibras Aeroco, the manufacturer of Brazil’s most advanced missile and rocket systems. The General Superintendence of CADE, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, recommended the unconditional approval of the acquisition of Avibras by Globe Investimentos S.A., the personal investment vehicle of entrepreneurs Joesley and Wesley Batista.
The decision, signed Monday, views the transaction as a "substitution of an economic agent" that does not harm competition, allowing the Batista brothers to enter the sensitive defense and aerospace sectors. Avibras is considered a strategic national asset, known globally for developing and manufacturing the ASTROS long-range artillery rocket system, as well as various missiles and specialized aerospace solutions for the civilian sector. The company had been struggling financially and entered judicial reorganization—Brazil’s form of bankruptcy protection—in March 2022.
The acquisition by Globe Investimentos is intended to preserve Avibras’s core technological and industrial capacity and support the resumption of its operations after the financial crisis. The Batistas are best known as the controlling shareholders of the J&F conglomerate, which includes JBS N.V. (NYSE: JBS), one of the world's largest food companies. The Globe Investimentos entity, however, operates separately from the main J&F business. The buyers argued to CADE that the acquisition was a necessary step to restructure the defense company, which had been suffering from months of unpaid wages and an uncertain future.
The antitrust authority’s preliminary approval does not close the door entirely on the deal. The decision is subject to review by the administrative tribunal of CADE, which can still be triggered by an internal councilor or a third-party appeal. However, the summary nature of the approval—a process typically reserved for simple acquisitions—suggests that a full-scale review is not widely anticipated by those familiar with the case. The Batista brothers’ entry into the defense sector marks a significant strategic pivot for the family's investment portfolio, moving beyond their traditional focus on commodities and energy and into an industry critical to Brazil's national security interests.