By Brazil Stock Guide – Globe Investimentos, the family office of Brazilian businessmen Joesley and Wesley Batista, who also control J&F, has agreed to acquire 100% of Nova AVB S.A., the holding company that controls defense and aerospace systems manufacturer Avibras Aeroco Indústria Aeroespacial.
The transaction marks the Batista brothers’ formal entry into Brazil’s defense and aerospace industries and will give them control of a portfolio ranging from tactical missiles and artillery rocket systems to air-defense technology, civilian space launch vehicles, rocket motors and solid-propulsion systems.
In a filing submitted to Brazil’s antitrust regulator Cade, Globe said the acquisition represents an opportunity to enter the sector while contributing to the restructuring and strengthening of Brazil’s defense and aerospace industries.
Avibras Aeroco confirmed the transaction in a statement released on Friday, Aug. 21. According to the company, the selling shareholder, Brasil Crédito Gestão Fundo de Investimento em Participações Multiestratégia, said the deal had already been submitted to Cade. Completion remains subject to antitrust approval and other customary closing conditions.
The purchase price and payment terms were submitted confidentially to Cade and are under restricted access in the public version of the filing.
The parties asked Cade to review the transaction under its fast-track procedure, arguing that there is neither horizontal overlap nor vertical integration between the Batista family’s businesses and those of Nova AVB or Avibras Aeroco. According to the filing, the deal essentially replaces one economic owner with another rather than combining competing businesses.
The filing also says the transaction does not require approval from any other regulatory or antitrust authority in Brazil or abroad.
What the Batista Brothers Are Buying
Avibras Aeroco, Nova AVB’s operating subsidiary, develops and manufactures defense systems as well as technologies for the civilian space industry.
Its flagship defense system is ASTROS, a mobile artillery platform capable of firing rockets, ballistic missiles and tactical cruise missiles from the same launcher, with ranges of roughly 9 kilometers to as much as 300 kilometers depending on the munition.
The portfolio also includes the MTC tactical cruise missile, which uses turbine propulsion and has a range of up to 300 kilometers. Integrated into the ASTROS platform, the missile is currently undergoing certification.
Another program is the AV-SS-100 tactical ballistic missile, or MTB, with a range of more than 100 kilometers and designed for precision strikes against tactical, operational and strategic targets. The project remains under development.
Avibras Aeroco also produces Skyfire, a 70-millimeter rocket system available in air-to-ground configurations for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, as well as ground-launched versions primarily designed for special forces and light-artillery units.
The company is also active in low- and medium-altitude air-defense systems. Its projects include FILA, which integrates sensors, radar and fire-control technology, along with solutions developed with international partners combining missiles and radar systems to protect critical infrastructure and operational areas.
Beyond Missiles: Brazil’s Space Program
The business the Batista brothers are acquiring extends well beyond military missiles and rockets.
Avibras Aeroco develops suborbital vehicles, civilian space launchers, rocket motors, propulsion systems, onboard electronics and software, including technologies linked to the Brazilian Space Program.
The company also manufactures the AV-FTI and AV-FTB single-stage training rockets, used in launch-center operations as well as scientific and technological experiments.
Solid propulsion is another major area of expertise. Avibras develops and manufactures solid-fuel rocket motors using both metallic and composite structures, with different propellant loads depending on the application.
The company also produces key inputs used in solid propellants, including ammonium perchlorate and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), which is used as a binder in composite solid-propellant formulations.
In broad terms, Avibras Aeroco’s business is divided into two main areas: integrated defense systems — including artillery platforms, missiles, rockets and air-defense systems — and civilian space solutions, including launch vehicles, propulsion systems and the materials used to produce them.
A Business Rebuilt Almost From Scratch
The transaction follows a sweeping restructuring of Avibras’ industrial operations.
The company now known as Nova AVB was incorporated in 2025 and became the holding company controlling Avibras Aeroco, which took over the industrial operations separated from the former Avibras Indústria Aeroespacial S.A.
The Cade filing shows that Nova AVB and Avibras Aeroco generated no revenue in 2025, underscoring how recently the new operating structure was established before production resumed this year.
Nova AVB has share capital of R$100 million and is wholly owned by Brasil Crédito. Almost all of that capital — R$99,999,960 — was contributed through a court-recognized claim originally linked to the former Avibras structure.
The claim originated from international marketing services contracted with Poris Duta Sarana Co. in 2022 and was assigned to Brasil Crédito in 2024.
Court proceedings related to the debt led to the seizure of 59.1 million shares in the former Avibras. Those shares were subsequently awarded to Vita Gestão e Investimentos in July 2025 at an updated value of R$227.17 million, according to a valuation by V4 Auditores Independentes.
In effect, a creditor that had acquired a claim against the former Avibras ultimately became the sole shareholder of the holding company controlling the new industrial operation — the very stake that is now being sold to Globe Investimentos, the Batista brothers’ family office.
Two Different Avibras Structures
The transaction does not represent a direct acquisition of Avibras Indústria Aeroespacial S.A., the original company that remains under court-supervised restructuring.
That company is controlled by Martinelli Gestora de Ativos e Participações, which succeeded Vita Gestão e Investimentos.
Martinelli, however, does not control the industrial operation that has resumed missile and rocket production. Those activities were transferred to Avibras Aeroco, which is controlled by Nova AVB — precisely the structure Globe is acquiring.
The distinction is important: the Batista brothers are acquiring control of the operating defense and aerospace business rather than directly taking over the company that remains under judicial restructuring.
Family Office Had Already Helped Finance the Restart
The acquisition deepens a relationship that began before the proposed change of control.
Brasil Crédito coordinated a R$300 million financing that helped Avibras Aeroco restart production in May, with Joesley Batista, one of J&F’s controlling shareholders, participating as an investor.
The acquisition therefore turns a prior financial exposure to the company’s industrial restart into direct control of the business.
Globe Investimentos has also been used by the Batista family in other transactions. In 2025, the vehicle acquired a 4.99% stake in Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais, or Usiminas (B3: USIM5), from Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, or CSN (B3: CSNA3).
Globe is chaired by Aguinaldo Gomes Ramos Filho, a nephew of Joesley and Wesley Batista.
The broader J&F portfolio spans food and proteins, energy, pulp, financial services, mining and other businesses, including JBS N.V. (NYSE: JBS; B3: JBSS32). Defense and aerospace, however, will become part of the Batista brothers’ personal investment portfolio through Globe.
Few Antitrust Obstacles
From an antitrust perspective, the parties are presenting the acquisition as relatively straightforward.
Globe and Nova AVB told Cade there is no horizontal overlap or vertical integration between the buyer’s existing businesses and Avibras Aeroco’s activities, describing the transaction as essentially the replacement of one economic owner by another.
They have therefore requested unconditional approval under Cade’s fast-track review procedure.
The filing identifies the relevant economic activity as the manufacture of heavy weapons equipment, excluding military combat vehicles.
In their submission, the parties cited Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Leonardo, MBDA and Roketsan among the leading competitors in the international market.
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