Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BBB-' rating to Votorantim Participacoes SA's proposed senior notes of approximately USD 750 million. These notes will be issued through VPAR's subsidiary, Voto Votorantim Limited, a Cayman Island company and will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by VPAR, as well as jointly and severally by its subsidiaries Votorantim Cimentos Brasil SA and Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio.

VPAR's investment grade ratings reflect its strong industrial business positions and high operating leverage. A key consideration in assigning a 'BBB-' rating to the VPAR issuance is the company's strong long term underlying fundamentals of its industrial businesses, which include being the largest cement producer in Brazil, which is the sixth largest cement market in the world, enjoying competitive advantages in the non ferrous metals zinc, nickel and aluminum due to high quality ore and integrated operations and having joint control of the lowest cost market pulp producer in the world, which is nearly twice as large as the second largest producer. All of these companies operate with high operating leverage and their cash flow will rebound quickly with the increasing capacity and as commodity prices recover. VPAR has also made efforts to strengthen its corporate governance, particularly in risk management.

VPAR is a holding company for several subsidiaries that are organized under its industrial sub holding company, Votorantim Industrial SA or its financial services sub holding company, Votorantim Financas. VPAR's investment grade rating incorporates the 'BBB-' rating of Banco Votorantim. This bank is the main asset of VF and has a strong market position in automobile financing. A key component of the ratings of Banco Votorantim is the 50% ownership by Banco do Brasil, which now provides BV with access to retail funding. Additionally, Fitch believes that BV would enjoy future support, if needed, from Banco do Brasil.