Only last week, foreign secretary William Hague predicted a boom in trade between the UK and Brazil. He told the BBC that the possibilities for growth were "almost limitless".

Mr Hague added: "There are huge opportunities in Brazil. Our target is to double our trade within five years and there has been a strong increase.”

And leading by example is UK-based global private equity firm Actis, who specialise in the emerging and high-growth markets of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

They have just paid £66m to acquire a significant minority stake in Brazilian education company Cruzeiro do Sul Educacional.

It is Actis’s fourth Brazilian investment in 18 months. Prior investments include the supermarket chain CSD, a majority stake in cleaning products group Gtex, and XP Investimentos, Brazil's largest independent broker. Since 2010 the private equity firm has invested $295m in Brazil.

Two years ago another UK company, Pearson, also ventured into the Brazilian education market when they paid £324m to buy a division of Sistema Educacional Brasileiro.

Founded in 1965 Cruzeiro do Sul Educacional has a total of 36,000 students across eight sites. Offering both undergraduate and post graduate study, long distance learning and higher education, the organisation has been widely recognised for its academic excellence.

Cruzeiro do Sul Educacional is made up of three institutions - the University Cruzeiro do Sul (São Paulo-SP), Centro Universitário do Distrito Federal (Brasília-DF) and Centro Universitário Módulo (Caraguatatuba-SP).

Speaking on the investment, Chu Kong, Actis Partner said: "Actis’s vision of delivering high quality education provision is fulfilled with our participation in Cruziero do Sul.

“We have built up strong experience in the educational sector from our experiences elsewhere, for example in China with our PSE platform. Thanks to the University’s reputation and recognition in the market we see great potential for future expansion.

“As is already known, we are in extremely productive discussions with the highly regarded Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, with the hope of also adding that university to the Cruzeiro platform.”

Professor Hermes Ferreira Figueiredo, founder and CEO of the University, said: "Our goal is to offer quality education to an increasing number of young people who believe in education as key to social mobility and development.

“With the participation of Actis we will consolidate our expansion, increase student numbers, and further our commitment to provide high quality training. This investment also paves the way for future growth.”

Brazil's economy has enjoyed much success in recent years, following a series of economic reforms in the 1990s. In December, it overtook the UK to become the world's sixth-largest economy.