LatinStocks.com Moves Into Private Market –

BUENOS AIRES – Financial services Internet portal LatinStocks.com, which primarily serves Latin American markets, is in the midst of negotiating a venture capital deal designed to secure between $30 million to $40 million. The transaction, which is being overseen by placement agent Credit Suisse First Boston, is expected to close within the next month.

Federico Eisner, chief executive of LatinStocks.com, said it was too early in the process to reveal potential investors, but did say that the eventual buy-side players would most likely be media and financial firms based both in the U.S. and in Latin America.

The deal will follow up on a pair of major equity plays from last year during which The Exxel Group of Buenos Aires, took a 60% stake in LatinStocks.com.

AOL Latin America, a joint venture between America Online Inc. and the Cisneros Group, is its largest minority investor and hosts LatinStocks.com as its designated financial channel.

LatinStocks.com, which was founded by Leandro Martino in 1998, operates a Web site that provides financial news and analysis on major Latin American markets. The information on the site is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Eisner said the proceeds will primarily go toward deepening the firm’s vendor relationships.

“Just as WalMart works on EDI to have a more efficient flow [between itself] and its vendors, we work with our vendors, like BancBoston and other financial institutions,” he said. “They create the products; we are the distribution channel.”

Currently LatinStocks is working to provide its users with vertical options like investment information in vehicles like equity and mutual to e-commerce to loans and mortgages.

In October, LatinStocks will add two new verticals when it introduces tax advise and applications and retirement planning. LatinStocks is also reportedly in negotiations with two Mexican banks over provision of content for the new channels and the distribution of the banks’ products to LatinStocks users.

The portal has an estimated 200,000 users throughout Latin America.

Eisner said that while his firm does not have immediate plans yet to go public, an initial public offering is definitely a possible exit strategy for LatinStocks.com.