Private Pause.

WHILE THE BURGEONING SERVICE FROM BRAZIL'S RECENTLY liberalized telecom industry is taking headlines, the fervor for more privatization and deregulation seems to be quietly waning. * A rash of court injunctions and other holdups have given potential investors pause. France's Lyonnais de Eaux and Great Britain's Thames Water were reconsidering their bids for water and sewer utility Manaus Saneamento in Brazil's Amazonas state after a court suspended the auction a couple months ago. * Injunctions also caused a series of delays leading up to the privatization of Banespa, Brazil's largest state bank, scheduled for August. * However, investor interest seems to have cooled. The government recently took a seat on the board of directors of Compania Vale do Rio Doce after it was unable to sell a 32% stake in the mining giant. And privatized railroad companies have put the brakes on their spending plans, meeting only 68% of their targets, according to a recent Transport Ministry report.