China's Fosun nears Brazil fund purchase, source says

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Fosun International Ltd is in advanced talks to buy Brazilian fund manager Rio Bravo Investimentos Ltda, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in what would be the Chinese firm's first investment in Brazil.

The source, who requested anonymity because the deal is private, did not elaborate on terms or a timetable for the deal. Finance blog Brazil Journal first reported the talks on Wednesday.

Rio Bravo's three main partners, former Brazilian central bank president Gustavo Franco, Paulo Bylik and Mario Fleck, would keep running the Rio de Janeiro-based firm, according to the blog.

Calls to a media representative for Rio Bravo were not immediately answered. Efforts to contact Fosun's media office in China outside working hours were unsuccessful.

Rio Bravo manages about 10 billion reais ($3 billion) of client's money distributed in liquid funds, real estate and private equity investments. Fosun has about $50 billion in assets under management.

Founded by Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang, Fosun has grown into China's biggest private conglomerate, with holdings ranging from medical companies to French travel group Club Med.

Facing a slowing economy at home, Chinese businesses are hunting for non-yuan assets abroad. Chinese outbound M&A activity has more than doubled in two years, hitting a record $120 billion in total deal value so far in 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Leslie Adler)