Grupo BTG Pactual, Brazil’s only publicly traded independent investment bank, is partnering with shareholder Abu Dhabi Investment Council to expand its reinsurance business, said Chief Executive Officer Andre Esteves.

BTG and the sovereign fund will each take a 50 percent stake in Ariel Re, the reinsurance unit that BTG has said it’s acquiring from Global Atlantic Financial Group Ltd., Esteves said in an interview. BTG announced the acquisition of Ariel Re on July 10, without disclosing its partner or financial terms.

The Sao Paulo-based lender controlled by Esteves is expanding internationally as Brazil’s growth slows. It said last month it agreed to buy Assicurazioni Generali SpA’s Swiss private-banking unit for 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) to help build a global private-banking platform.

“The insurance and reinsurance business is a perfect way to diversify risk,” Esteves said Aug. 1 at his office in Sao Paulo.

Abu Dhabi Investment Council bought a stake in BTG in December 2010, before BTG’s initial public offering in 2012, Esteves said. There was no response to messages left at the fund seeking comment.
–With assistance from Matthew Martin in Dubai.