CVC Brasil Operadora e Agencia de Viagens has launched an IPO targeting more than BRL700m ($299m), it says, with pricing scheduled for December 5. The travel services provider is offering 38.8m secondary shares, assuming a 15% greenshoe, at BRL18.00-22.00 each, meaning a BRL776m deal at the midpoint. The base deal represents 26.02% of the company. US private equity firm Carlyle, invested in CVC since 2009, is selling 64% of the shares in the base deal, with co-founder Guilherme Paulus selling almost all of the other 36%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BTG Pactual, Itau, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are managing the transaction, the second attempt at an IPO after a 2011 filing.
Category: Equity
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Latam Taxis Out Rights Offer
Latam Airlines plans to hold the rights offering period for a $1bn equity capital raise between November 20 and December 19, it says. The airline, working under an approval granted earlier this year, is planning to sell 63.5m shares, at a price to be determined before the start of the sale period. Latam will set a price equal to a weighted average of transactions from the eight days prior to the launch, minus a 7.5% discount. The sale would raise CLP506.25bn ($972m) if Tuesday’s CLP8,618.90 closing price were used and the 7.5% discount applied. The airline is raising funds for fleet enhancement and other purposes. JPMorgan is global coordinator and BTG Pactual and Credicorp joint bookrunners. Colombia’s Avianca went to the market last week to raise $408m in ADR, pricing below the range and seeing the ADR trade down slightly since.
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Vale Cutting Aluminum Stake
Vale is preparing to sell a stake of as much as 12% in Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro, it says, which could fetch more than $1bn. Vale is selling up to 246m shares, including an overallotment option, through an accelerated bookbuilding process launched Monday. The block of shares would be worth NOK6.63bn ($1.08bn) at Monday’s NOK26.96 closing price. Morgan Stanley and DNB are slated to manage the transaction, according to a person familiar with it. The sale could take Vale’s stake in Norsk to 201m shares, or 9.7%, and is part of a divestiture plan to help the Brazilian miner cope with lower commodity prices that have meant leaner profits. In September, it sold stakes in its VLI cargo unit to a Caixa Economica Federal fund and Japan’s Mitsui for a total of BRL2.71bn ($1.2bn). This followed $1.47bn of divestments in 2012. Vale’s 22% position in Norsk Hydro comes from a $5.27bn 2011 sale of its bauxite and aluminum assets in Brazil to Norsk.
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Ecopetrol Considers Equity Options
Though Ecopetrol’s $2.5bn September bond sale leaves it with a strong cash position, the state-controlled oil company will continue to look for financing, President Javier Gutierrez says at the Ecopetrol Investor Day in New York Friday. “We have enough resources for 2013 and part of the 2014. We still have the possibility to go out to the national or international markets for bonds, loans and ECAs and, finally, if we needed additional resources we may consider the possibility of issuing shares,” he says. Gutierrez adds Ecopetrol has some space to go to the market without affecting its investment grade ratings and says there is a possibility to take advantage of the additional shares it has approvals to sell, though an offering is not under immediate consideration in the short term. Ecopetrol has congressional approval to issue 20% of its capital via primary offerings, of which it has already issued 10.1% in its IPO in 2007 and another 1.4% in a 2011 follow-on. In those sales, only Colombians were allowed to participate directly, with international access available through the secondary market. Now, with the option to sell an ADR, it can target an international investor base and make a big difference in its investor base diversity. So far, the company estimates international investors own just 1.5% of its shares. In Ecopetrol’s September bond transaction, it received $12bn in orders for 2018, 2023 and 2043 bonds. Ecopetrol is carrying out its strategic growth plan through 2020 with capex of approximately $80bn with the goal of increasing production and transport capacity and modernizing existing refineries by 2020.
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Alsea Looks for Acquisition Funds
Mexico’s Alsea has approached regulators for an equity sale, it says. The proceeds would be used to repay short-term debt used in the $627m purchase of Wal-Mart de Mexico’s restaurant unit agreed in September. It does not give additional details. Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Alsea on the purchase. Alsea held an IPO in 1999, and has come back to the market twice, most recently in 2012 to raise $88m.
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Brazilians Weigh Investor Feedback
Two potential Brazilian equity issuers, CVC Brasil Operadora e Agencia de Viagens and Via Varejo, have been sounding out investors about valuations, according to people following the sales, and are expected to make launch decisions this week. Retailer Via Varejo is preparing an equity follow-on including primary and secondary shares, according to a prospectus. The planned sale is to include units representing one common and two preferred shares. Bradesco, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are managing. Travel agency CVC is preparing an IPO of $450m-equivalent, according to people following the process. The all-secondary share transaction represents a second attempt for controller Carlyle to sell down its position, after filing in 2011. US private equity firm Carlyle holds 63.2% of CVC, with almost all of the remainder held by the founders. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BTG Pactual, Itau, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are managing.
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Paraguayan IPO Plan is Off
Dahava Petroleos is no longer on track to hold an IPO in Paraguay, what would have been a rare Paraguayan equity transaction. Paraguay’s CNV regulators denied Dahava Petroleos’ registration in January, according to CNV documents seen by LatinFinance, and officials say there has been no resolution since. Dahava claimed to have ownership of various oil concession assets in its filing, but was unable to meet officials’ requests for additional information to confirm their valuations and prove they should be counted as part of the listed entity. The issuer did not provide suitable proof of ownership of certain concession assets, the documents show. This included a concession held by CDS Energy, claimed to be worth more than $100m, for which the license had expired. Dahava spokespeople did not return requests for comment. In July, Dahava announced discussions with an “international oil company” to acquire 100% of Dahava, but has not provided an update since. Dahava had been looking to raise $100m in the IPO for an oil and gas drilling program in the Chaco basin in northern Paraguay. Paraguayan brokerage Valores, part of the Andorra-based Credit Andorra Group, had been managing the sale.
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Quinenco Reaches Nearly 100% Take-up
After closing a subscription period Tuesday, Chile’s Quinenco is heard with a 99.3% takeup rate for its equity capital raise targeting CLP350bn ($678m). The holdco for the Luksic family’s investments was offering existing holders 318.2m shares at CLP1,100 each, subscribed at a rate of 0.24 per existing share. The proceeds are going to investments in Quinenco’s companies, as well as to make investments in new companies. Itau, Banchile and BBVA managed the process. The remaining shares are expected to be auctioned to the public. The Quinenco holdings include positions in beverage company CCU, Banco de Chile, shipper Vapores and manufacturer Madeco.
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Avianca ADS Land Below Range
Avianca has priced the debut of ADS representing preferred shares of the Avianca Holdings entity below the range, and should raise $408m. The total demand was not immediately available late Tuesday. The airline is selling 12.5m primary ADS and 14.7m secondary ADS, assuming a 15% all-secondary share greenshoe, at $15.00 each, according to people familiar with the transaction. The price comes versus a $17.00-$20.00 range, and a COP3,945 ($2.06) close Tuesday of the preferred shares, that suggested a level of $16.48 per ADS. Each ADS represents eight Avianca Holdings preferred shares. The discount to the local shares was somewhat anticipated, according to people following the sale, based on the lower domestic liquidity levels. The secondary portion is sold by former Taca executives Juaquin Palomo and Alfredo Ratti and the entities representing the controlling Eframovich brothers and Kriete family. The Eframovich brothers should control a position equal to 78% of the common stock following the deal. The Panama-domiciled Colombia-listed holdco is raising funds to modernize the Avianca-Taca fleet. JPMorgan and Citi led the transaction, joined by UBS, BTG Pactual and Deustche Bank. Avianca and Taca merged in 2010, and the domestic IPO of the preferred shares raised $283m-equivalent in 2011.
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Developer Launches Mall Fibra
Mexican developer Grupo Acosta Verde is targeting more than MXP5.0bn ($380m) in the IPO of its Fibra, pricing November 20. The Fibra Sendero shopping mall-focused real estate fund is offering 264m shares, assuming a 15% greenshoe, at MXP20.00-MXP25.00 each, meaning a MXP5.28bn transaction at the midpoint. The all-primary share deal is to include both Mexican and international tranches, with the size of each determined at pricing. Sendero starts with 10 operating malls spread throughout five Mexican states, and aims to acquire land to develop six more. The malls are focused on the middle and lower-middle classes, also known as C and D classes. BBVA and JPMorgan are global coordinators on the sale, with UBS also on the international portion and Banorte-Ixe managing the local portion.