Category: Corporate & Sovereign Strategy

Brazilian meatpacker Perdigão has priced its global offering of 32 million common shares, which was given the go-ahead Friday by local securities regulator (CVM). The company said it had priced the shares at R$25 per common share and $23.40 per ADS. Each ADS represents two common shares. The global offering, which is expected to raise around $430 million, comprises an international offering of 13,270,529 common shares, including common shares in the form of ADS, issued in the United States and other countries outside Brazil and a concurrent offering of 18,729,471 common shares in Brazil. Credit Suisse Securities and Itaú Securities. are acting as joint bookrunners for the international offering. CVM had earlier suspended the October 19 offering after one of the brokers acting for the company broke the “quiet period” disclosure regulations.

Brazil’s securities market regulator, CVM, has given the go-ahead for the first real-denominated bond issue by a multilateral lender. The International Financial Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank, is hoping to issue $94 million worth (R$200 million) of local currency bonds in Brazil for the first time. (The IFC has previously issued local-currency bonds in Colombia and Peru.) The Corporation plans to use the money to fund “productive enterprises in the Brazilian private sector.” The bond will be issued at a fixed rate and mature in three years, according to local financial wire Agência Estado.

Brazilian securities regulator (CVM), Tuesday, suspended the October 19 global share offering of local food-processor Perdigão for 15 days. The Regulator said that one of the brokers acting for the company had broken the “quiet period” disclosure regulations. Perdigão, Brazil’s second-largest food processor, is planning a global issue of up to 32 million common shares, or 24% of its capital, in New York as ADRs and via Bovespa. Each ADR will represent two common shares. The offering, which is expected to raise up to $371 million, is being arranged by Credit Suisse and Itaú BBA. The sale will take the company’s free float from 43.8% to 46.6%.

BBVA Bancomer, the Mexican unit of Spanish banking giant BBVA, has registered with Mexico’s national banking and securities commission (CNBV) to issue up to $1.84 billion worth of local debt securities (20 billion pesos) in a program over the next two years. The nominal value and maturity of the debt securities will be determined for every issuance within the program. Casa de Bolsa BBVA Bancomer will act as placing agents. The bank has published a preliminary prospectus.

Luxembourg-based flat steelmaker Ternium, owned by Argentina’s Techint, is to invest $1.4 billion over the next three years in its Latin American operations. The company has steel operations in Argentina (Siderar), Mexico (Hylsamex) and Venezuela (Sidor) with a combined annual production capacity of 10.8 million tonnes. The company plans to increase capacity up to 12 million tonnes before 2009.

Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES) has filed with the country’s securities market regulator (CVM) to issue debentures via its investment unit BNDESPar. The Bank said it would issue at least $226 million worth of the local non-convertible bonds. The bonds will carry a maturity of six years and will pay an annual interest rate of IPCA plus 6%. In total, the Bank plans to issue $900 million worth of the paper over the next two years. This issuance would represent the first tranche in that program.

Brazilian securities regulator (CVM) has turned down an appeal by Netherlands-based Mittal Steel and upheld a ruling that it must offer to buy out minority shareholders of Brazilian steel company Arcelor, which Mittal bought as part of its merger with rival Luxembourg-based steelmaker Arcelor. The ruling will add up to $4 billion to the cost of the $38.3 billion merger, according to Mittal which had appealed the decision last month on the basis that the merger is one of equals and not a takeover. The latest ruling is final unless Mittal and Arcelor Brasil appeal to Brazil’s federal court.