Category: Chile

Chilean fishing company Australis Seafoods priced a CLP33.3bn ($71m) IPO near the middle of the market’s expectations, and rose 1.3% in its first day of trading. The salmon and trout exporter sold 180m shares at CLP185 each, with analyst expectations having centered around CLP175-CLP190. The company also made 7m shares available to employees. Demand topped CLP353bn from 711 accounts, Australis says. Local institutions and pension funds made up 46.9%, local retail investors 20.6%, local non-institutions 14.6%, and foreign accounts 3.3%. The sale represents a 13% float, and raises funds to improve production, with the company planning to spend $274m through 2015. The company was generally seen as inexpensive compared to listed peers, with analysts seeing less than 10x EV/Ebitda versus 10x-15x for competitors. The company, established in 2007 to consolidate the various fish businesses of Chilean businessman Isodoro Quiroga, consists of three branches: Australis Mar, which raises and harvests salmon and trout, Landcatch, which produces salmon eggs and smolts, and 50% of True Nature Holdings, a US salmon products distributor acquired this year. LarrainVial managed the sale. Shares closed Thursday at CLP187.43. As Chile’s fisheries make a comeback from a 2008-2009 fish disease that decimated the industry, several are choosing the bolsa to raise funds to increase production. AquaChile raised $374m equivalent in its IPO last month, following Camanchaca’s $225m equivalent in November, and Cultivos Marinos Chiloe expected this year. On the whole, the Chilean new issuance market is becoming one of the region’s more active, with a follow-on from Security today and Aguas Andinas next week, as well as the IPO of Cruz Blanca the following week.

Grupo Security is scheduled to announce the price of an equity follow-on this morning that could raise $200m equivalent. The financial company was to close books yesterday in the sale of 450m primary shares, which would raise CLP94.05bn ($202m) at Thursday’s CLP209 closing price. Security is raising funds for growth at its various units. Security’s main operation is Banco Security, and it also has operations in insurance, investments and asset management. IMTrust and Security’s brokerage unit are managing the sale.

Ingevec has made its initial registration for an IPO, according to a banker managing the process, adding to the growing list of issuers from Chile this year. The construction company’s roadshow should start within the next month, the banker says, though other details about the exact size and timing of the transaction are yet to be determined. The float would be up to 30%. LarrainVial is managing. The construction, engineering and real estate company is raising funds for its expansion plan over the next few years, according to remarks from company officials in the Chilean press. Ingevec has a project portfolio of more than $300m, according to local press reports, and has diversified in recent years into areas including properties and producing modular bathrooms and kitchens.

Chile’s Cruz Blanca is set to close books for its IPO on June 22, with the price to be announced the following day, according to a banker on the deal. The health services provider has been marketing in LatAm, the US and UK. The sale of 122m primary and up to 100m secondary shares is expected to raise about $200m equivalent. The offer represents up to 35% of the company, according to the prospectus. The health insurance provider and operator of medical centers and clinics plans to use 65% of the proceeds for its investment plan. The plan consists of opening new locations for its Integramedica walk-in clinics, and opening and renovating locations under its three brands of medical centers, as well as unspecified growth through acquisitions and organic means. The other 35% would be used to repay debt. Bice, Celfin and IMTrust are managing the sale. The issuer, owned by Grupo Said and Linzor Capital, was founded in 1999, though the Cruz Blanca brand was created in 2008 with the acquisition of health insurer Isapre ING. The health insurance operations represent 74% of Cruz Blanca’s business, according to the prospectus. Its total 2010 Ebitda was $31.2m equivalent. Cruz Blanca claims 20% of the market in Chile, covering 530,000 people, according to its website.

Chilean fishing company Australis Seafoods is expected to raise more than CLP33bn ($72m) when it prices its IPO this morning. The deal follows a string of transactions from the sector, but is seen coming cheap to competitors. Books were due to close yesterday for the sale of 187m shares, representing a 13% free float. Market expectations range from CLP175-CPL190, indicating a likely CLP32.73bn-CLP35.53bn size. The third Chilean fishery to IPO in the last 7 months, Australis is seen as inexpensive against listed peers. For instance, local shop Bice calculates 8.9x 2011 EV/Ebitda based on a fair value price for the company, compared to a 13.8x industry average and 15.6x for AquaChile, which recently went public. Bice spots fair value at CLP209.5 per share, and recommends buying at up to CLP184.4. It is “one of the most profitable companies in the Chilean salmon farming industry, achieving in 1Q11 a consolidated Ebitda/Kg of $2.1,” IMTrust says. It spots fair value at CLP192, and recommends the stock at up to CLP178. IMTrust notes that, in addition to weather, regulatory and other risks that affect the industry as a whole, the main risk for Australis is its short 3-year history as an integrated unit. The company, established in 2007 to consolidate the various fish businesses of Chilean businessman Isodoro Quiroga, consists of three branches: Australis Mar, which raises and harvests salmon and trout, Landcatch, which produces salmon eggs and smolts, and 50% of True Nature Holdings, a US salmon products distributor acquired this year. Australis plans to use the proceeds to improve production, and expects to spend $274m through 2015. It had $23.0m equivalent in Ebitda in 2010, compared to $13.7m in 2009. IMTrust forecasts $72m Ebitda for this year, but warns of a possible decrease as soon as 2012 due to falling prices caused by increased competition as producers across the board ramp-up production to levels last seen before a disease struck Chile’s salmon business in 2008

Salmon producer Cultivos Marinos Chiloe has registered with Chile’s securities regulator, normally the first step in the IPO process. Celfin is advising on the process, for which there is not yet an indication of timing, according to a banker at the advisor. Founded in 1988 and controlled by businessman Francisco Jose Lopez, Puerto Montt-based CM Chiloe raises salmon in the southern part of the country, and is focused on exports to North America and Japan. Chile’s market has been among the region’s most active for new issuance this year, particularly for fish companies. AquaChile raised $374m equivalent in its IPO last month, and Australis Seafoods should raise $70m-plus today. Traditionally large exporters of salmon and trout, Chile’s fisheries are in need of fresh capital to expand production as they recover from a disease that hurt the industry’s production in 2008-2009.