Ranking the Latin American Multinationals

Here's a list of the top "multilatinas" from América Economía. Brazilian firms dominate the rankings, with 26 of 60 spots. Mexico comes next with 13, followed by Chile with 12. Mexico's proportion of companies among the top 60 (just over 20 percent) is slightly lower than its proportion of the region's GDP (a little more than 25 percent in nominal terms), so you could interpret this as a crude indicator that the best of the Mexican economy underperforms.

At the top of the list is Argentina's Tenaris, followed by Cemex. Other Mexican entries in the top twenty include Grupo Alfa, América Móvil, Bimbo, and Telmex. Among the oil giants, Petrobras comes in at number 10, Pvdsa at 15, and Pemex not at all. Other high-profile Mexican firms like Televisa, Grupo Modelo, Elektra, and Femsa made the list as well.

The methodology makes this list much more relevant than that of a similar list by Poder. América Economía focuses on the significance of a company's employees, sales and investment in its overseas affiliates, its geographic extension, shareholder confidence, liquidity, and size. Poder based its list more heavily on size, which explains the high rankings of floundering behemoths like Pemex.