Infnet
Grupo Infnet offers specialized, high-quality training to IT professionals in Brazilian companies. The company experienced explosive growth from 1996 to 2000 due to the Internet hype in Latin America. During that time, the holding company developed three distinct companies and business models: Instituto Infnet, which offered more than sixty presential courses in Rio de Janeiro; TopMaster, which customized courses to meet the specific needs of Brazil's main corporations; and TIMaster, that developed and delivered more than fifty online courses.
From 2000 to 2002 an important economic downturn in Brazil coupled with the Internet bubble burst strongly affected the technology sector in the country. Infnet managed to leverage its brand to weather the crisis and strengthened its position when in 2002 it was accepted into the Endeavor network.
The company needed to decide upon a growth strategy: either get into the formal education segment or continue in its core business, with a modest organic growth. The founding partners had opposing views in this respect… where would the company go next in the midst of a US recession that is unpredictable in its timeline?
Editorial Mapas
Javier Arredondo founded Editorial Mapas in 2001. The editorial company quickly achieved a strong position in the Mexican market through its first, highly successful magazine: Traves??as.
Traves??as is focused on up-scale travel through the world and particularly through Mexico. The company was quite successful and the Traves??as title had become very popular but it was clear in the founders' mind that to build a successful editorial business multiple magazine titles were required both to mitigate risks through diversification and to take advantage of the large economies of scale that rule in the industry.
Javier holds a strong personal relationship with the founders and managers of Gatopardo -similar to Vanity Fair with presence in 12 Latin American countries-who proposed a merger with Traves??as.
Should Editorial Mapas go through with the merger? Would it provide a good growth avenue for the company? If the merger was pursued, under what terms should it be done?
New Margin Ventures
New Margin Ventures is a venture capital management company based in Shanghai. It was founded in July 1999 and has over US$100M under management in three funds. As one of the first Venture Capital companies ever created in China, it faced great opportunities but also great challenges. As the Chinese economy changes and the company grows, it needs to define its investment and growth strategy moving forward: what sectors should it focus on? What capabilities does it need to develop? What kind of talent does it need to attract? What types of deals should it pursue?