Investors from the United States and other countries are set to travel to Venezuela in the coming weeks after the US announced it was restoring diplomatic ties with the South American country as part of a new era following Donald Trump’s capture of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
According to a March 7 Reuters report, the travel party, which spans three trips organized by separate advisory groups, includes hedge fund managers, energy experts and dozens of investors from the US and other countries.
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Investors will meet with Venezuelan politicians and business leaders and explore investment opportunities in energy, finance, technology, oil and gas and real estate.
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According to a Reuters report, the trips are organized by Orinoco Research (based in Caracas), Trans-National Research (based in New Jersey) and Signum Global Advisors (based in London). The first two were reported by Reuters, while Signum’s journey has been public for some time, she added.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, but owes more than $100 billion in debt that needs restructuring. The government, led by interim president Delca Rodriguez, has proactively sought better relations with the US following Maduro’s capture in January. On March 5, the two countries agreed to restore diplomatic relations.
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Miami-based Jesse Cole, president of Sky Drop Capital, which set up a manufacturing facility in the Latin American country in 1998 but left it in 2011, told Reuters it was a “spring of opportunity… The Venezuela I left, I don’t think is the Venezuela I’m going back to.”
Cole said offices managing high-net-worth families, individuals and private equity (PE) are looking to invest $25 million to $100 million in the country.
Three consulting groups are planning investor trips to Venezuela
- The report cited a source as saying that the Trans-National trip is planned for March 16-17. President Marc Zeepvat confirmed the trip to Reuters but did not give dates or a schedule, but said it would focus on measuring “macroeconomic and political stability.”
- Signum’s 55-participant trip is scheduled for March 22-24, and founder and chairman Charles Myers told the publication that half of them are asset managers and hedge funds.
- Meanwhile, a two-day Orinoco trip is scheduled for April, founder Elias Ferrer confirmed to the agency, adding that participants (primarily bondholders) will meet with senior Venezuelan officials to “gather information and share ideas for restructuring the country.”
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Other participants in the $7,000 per person trip include oil and real estate investors. Most of the participants are Americans, Ferrer added. This trip also includes a visit to the Los Roques Archipelago beach.
The report cited sources who said big Venezuelan names are featured in the program proposals on all the trips — Rodriguez, central bank policymaker Laura Guerra, Finance Minister Anabel Pereira, Mining Minister Hector Silva, PDVSA CEO Hector Obragon and stock exchange CEO Jose Grasso, to name a few.
Venezuela’s communications ministry, PDVSA, the central bank and the Caracas stock exchange did not respond to the same inquiries.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said critical minerals, mining and oil and gas companies were moving at “Trump speed” to invest in Venezuelan markets.
(With inputs from Reuters)
