Resumo
By studying the case of Brahma Brewing Co. we examine an aspect of foreign capital investment in Brazil at the turn of the XXth century that is still insufficiently explained by economic historiography: foreign investments in industrial projects. Particularly, the relationship between banks, foreign trade companies and industries is barely understood. By examining data from Brahma Co. we find partnership links and a flow of capital among many enterprises that took place within the German business community in Brazil. The very nature of such links, based on solid contracts, is explained by the institutional environment that prevailed during the first decades of Republic, when many important changes in commercial legislation took place.