By Aluisio Alves
SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group Corpis considering bringing around 40 companies with highgrowth potential to Brazil and expects to announce a largeinvestment in the country in around two weeks' time, the group'shead in Brazil, André Maciel, said on Friday.
"We have around 40 companies that fit in Brazil," he saidduring an event at Cubo, a technological hub funded by ItaúUnibanco, the largest private bank in Latin America.
SoftBank has been investing in many companies around theworld, including some that are already operating in Brazil suchas U.S. office-sharing startup WeWork.
Maciel, a former director at JPMorgan in Brazil, addedSoftbank plans to disclose a large investment in the country inthe next two weeks. He did not elaborate.
The Japanese group has been leading multimillion-dollarinvestments in Latin America since March, when it announced thecreation of a $5 billion fund targeting technological projectsin the region.
SoftBank has invested $1 billion in Colombian deliverystartup Rappi, $150 million in the app-based startup Loggi and$250 million in the rental platform Quinto Andar. It has alsoacquired a 15% stake in Banco Inter.
"Brazil still has room to create more unicorns", saidMaciel, referring to startups worth more than $1 billion. Headded SoftBank sees opportunities in Brazil in health,logistics, transportation and agribusiness, among other areas.(Reporting by Aluisio Alves in Sao PauloWriting by Gabriela MelloEditing by Matthew Lewis)