Chilean Visionary’s Bold Ventures May Be Vindicated by Foreigners / About Manuel Cruzat Infante
The Wall Street Journal Chilean Visionary’s Bold Ventures May Be Vindicated by Foreigners By Craig Torres January 12, 1999. SANTIAGO, Chile — Manuel Cruzat Infante built and lost empires in Chile over the past two decades as local banks turned hot and cold on his investments. Now foreign investors are taking an interest in some of his ventures, and that may vindicate his flagging reputation as Chile’s boldest entrepreneur. At a time when much of the new investment in Chile still flows into the production of copper and other basic materials for export, Mr. Cruzat’s conglomerate, CB Group SA, is betting on real estate, online banking and brokerage operations, and railroads. None of these investments has enthused local bankers, who have cut back on loans to CB Group for the past three years, executives say. But last month the International Finance Corp., a World Bank subsidiary, more than doubled its equity stake in CB Group’s rail-transport subsidiaries to 25%. UniRail Corp., a New York-...