The US unit of Brazil’s JBS has canceled the IPO shelf it filed in 2009. “The company is requesting such withdrawal as it does not intend to pursue the contemplated public offering at the current time,” it says. JBS had initially planned to do the US IPO for up to $2bn during late 2009 or 2010 in order to fund US operations, but kept pushing it back as it got funding through other means. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan had been picked to lead. The meatpacker had said last week it was in “advanced stages” of a transaction to sell BRL4bn of 5-year 8.5% convertible bonds to a single investor, believed by the market to be BNDES.
Yearly Archives: 2011
Posted inDaily Brief
Slim’s Carso Set for Spinoffs
Grupo Carso, the holdco controlled by Carlos Slim, plans to begin the separate listings of its real estate and mining assets Thursday, the company says. Inmuebles Carso, which buys, sells and develops buildings, and Minera Frisco, which mines silver, lead, zinc and copper, will not raise any new funds through the operation. In a move that would allow buyers direct access to Slim assets in 2 popular and growing sectors, Carso investors will receive new shares in each of the spinoffs at a rate to be announced prior to the opening of the markets Thursday. Carso shareholders approved the listings in November, after the company indicated it planned the spinoff earlier in the year. Gerardo Kuri Kaufmann will be CEO of Inmuebles Carso and Justo Wong Salinas will head Minera Frisco. Grupo Carso shares closed Monday at MXP77.98.
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Codelco to Discuss EC-L Stake Sale
The board of Chilean copper miner Codelco is expected to discuss the sale of a 40% stake it holds in power company EC-L, according to government sources. Analysts have estimated the stake to be valued at about $1.1bn. In September, the Chilean copper miner hired JPMorgan and LarrainVial to explore strategic alternatives for the stake. Codelco co-owns E-CL with France’s GDF Suez, which holds a 52.4% stake, in addition to a 7.6% free float. Proceeds of the sale will be used to finance Codelco’s investment plans.
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Neoenergia Buys EnergyWorks from Iberdrola
Neoenergia has acquired EnergyWorks of Brazil from Iberdrola for BRL150m. The target company consists of 6 gas-fired power plants, according to Neoenergia, an investor in the Brazilian energy sector. Iberdrola is also a 39% stakeholder in Neoenergia, the second largest behind Caixa de Previdencia dos Funionarios do Banco do Brasil (Previ), which owns 49%. The acquisition was motivated by prospects for the development of the Brazilian gas industry as a result of pre-salt reserves, and synergies with Neoenergia’s existing operations, according to the company. EnergyWorks currently has an installed capacity of 93MW. The company does not say whether it used an advisor on the deal. Previ has been pushing for Neoenergia to merge with CPFL Energia and has retained Morgan Stanley to advise on the potential merger, according to local press.
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LatAm M&A Hits Record High
LatAm saw the biggest M&A volume increase in the world last year, racking up $240.4bn in deals, according to Dealogic. This marked a 184% increase from the $87.5bn done in 2009. The second fastest leap was seen in the Indian Subcontinent, at 149% growth, while North America saw flow rise by just 11%, according to Dealogic. Brazil was the most targeted LatAm nation, with a record high volume of $151.1bn, the second highest in EM, it adds. China and Spain were the top acquiring nations into LatAm, with $19.3bn and $13.8bn, respectively. And LatAm oil & gas accounted for 24% of the global deal volume, inflated by Dealogic’s inclusion of a $43bn share swap between the Brazilian government and state-owned Petrobras. EM volume reached $915.0bn in 2010, up 63% from $560.5bn in 2009 compared to a 10% increase in non-EM countries. “Emerging market M&A accounted for 32% of global M&A volume, the highest share on record and surpassed European volume for the first time on record by 12% in 2010,” says Dealogic. The $7.1bn acquisition of a 40% stake of Repsol Brasil by China Petrochemical was the largest LatAm inbound deal in Q4 2010. Besides Petrobras, 2010 volume is somewhat skewed by Carso Global Telecom’s $24.1bn acquisition by America Movil. The Carso deal is seen by M&A bankers as an intra-company deal, since both buyer and seller are controlled by Carlos Slim. UBS led EM inbound deals with $56.6bn, followed by BAML with $48.7bn.
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Argentina Signs IDB Loan
Argentina will receive a $40m loan for the IDB to improve services outside the capital. The 25-year loan has a 5-year grace period and an interest rate based on Libor. Local counterparts will kick in funds totally $10m.
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Elementia Names Gil CFO
Albert Astier has retired from his position as CFO of Elementia, the company says, after 23 years with the Mexican building supply conglomerate. He has been replaced by Juan Manuel Gil, who joins from Grupo Holcim, and was also previously at Invermexico and Casa de Bolsa Arka.
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Cielo Appoints Poggetti Finance EVP
Cielo has named Clovis Poggetti as executive vice president of finance and director of investor relations. Poggetti replaces Mark Grodetzky, who is resigning for personal reasons. Poggetti has been with the Brazilian credit and debit card processor since May 2007, where he was most recently director of finance.
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Small-Cap Water Utility Plans IPO
CAB Ambiental, a Brazilian operator of water and sanitation concessions, plans to IPO, according to regulatory documents. It does not indicate the timing of the sale, which will consist of primary shares. CAB operates 11 concessions and 2 PPP contracts of 16-30 years, in Sao Paulo, Parana and Mato Grosso states, serving a total population of 4m. Owned by the Galvao Participacoes conglomerate, CAB posted Ebitda of BRL7.3m in the first 9 months of 2010, compared to BRL3.7m in all of 2009. It has hired Safra to manage the sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Bradesco Launches Share Offer
Bradesco is looking to raise BRL1.5bn through sale of 31.2m ordinary and 31.2m preferred shares in a private share offering open to existing holders, it says. Both ordinary and preferred shares are available at BRL24.06 per share, in the offer launched December 29 and open until January 31. The Brazilian bank’s common shares closed Monday at BRL26.03 and preferred at BRL33.04.