International Business / The Pacific

N.Y. Group Buys Brazil Rail Line: Brazil sold a 600-mile stretch of railroad to a consortium that includes Chemical Banking Corp. and New York-based holding company Noel Group Inc. for $63 million. The sale--the first of six such rail lines the government plans to auction--fetched 3.6% more than the government sought. It is the first privatized company to be purchased exclusively by foreign investors. The railroad, in Sao Paulo state, is the first of six concessions Brazil plans to sell to private investors.