The “National Champions” strategy in Brazil. Insights from JBS, VALE and AB-INBEV’ internationalization process (2003-2018)

ABSTRACT A staple of the PT governments’ new economic policy in Brazil has been the pursue of the internationalization of a selected group of domestic firms. From 2003 to 2013, the Brazilian State has promoted the globalization of such firms through various public policies, with the main goal being to position the most of them in the upper echelon of their respective industry globally. At the same time, internationalization had been a primary “defensive” strategy adopted by leading Brazilian firms since the ‘90s, turned in a truly “global strategy” in the last 20 years to deal with deeply transformative trends at world level. Here we look specifically at the internationalization path followed by JBS, VALE and AB-INBEV, highlighting common patterns such as undertaking expansive trajectories characterized by distinctive and cumulative phases of consolidation; penetrating rapidly concentrating world industries; a common tendency to dispersion of shareholding control, foreign takeover and delocalization of central activities in major markets; growing financialization of business; emergency of China as main market of reference. We conclude that the internationalization trajectories of JBS, VALE and AB-INBEV show some shortcomings in the “National Champions” strategy. Nonetheless, we warn against the temptation of regarding the mixed results of this strategy as simply a “failure” of the new industrial policy as a whole.