Category: Equity

Chilean IT provider Sonda plans to raise CLP150bn ($312m) in fresh equity, it says, to help fund growth in LatAm. The company does not disclose if this will include a public sale, and the matter is to be put to a shareholder vote August 24. The process will help fund a $700m 2013-2015 expansion plan. About $200m of the plan is to be organic, and $500m should come through acquisitions. It is targeting growth outside Chile, specifically in Brazil Mexico and Colombia. The company would use equity to fund about 40% of the plan, with 40% coming from cash and the remainder from debt. Sonda has been a consistent acquirer in the region, most recently taking Brazil’s Euclid for $73m in May and Chilean rival Quintec last year for $61m. It has a presence in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay. Sonda shares closed at CLP1,370.10 Tuesday.

Chilean retailer La Polar plans to start during the next three weeks a roadshow for an approximately $220m-equivalent equity capital increase, according to sources familiar with the sale. Details are still unclear, as the issuer is waiting for the official go-ahead from regulators for the transaction, which La Polar aims to conclude by October. The retailer plans to visit Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Brazil to market the deal, according to remarks from Chairman Cesar Barros cited in local media. The retailer set aside nearly $1bn-equivalent in loan loss provisions last year amid accusations of fraud after the company arbitrarily overcharged its credit clients and is undergoing the increase as part of a $900m restructuring with creditors. Creditors recently granted an extension to October 29 to complete the equity sale. Celfin is managing the capital raise, and Lazard is the advisor on the restructuring.

Enersis plans to continue with its planned $8.02bn capital increase, comply with regulator’s conditions and seek necessary valuations of assets to be put up by parent Endesa in the operation, it says. The Chile-based regional energy company pushed back the shareholder meeting to approve the plan in order to allow for adjustments. It does not give a new date for the meeting, originally scheduled for September 13. Last week, regulators found a conflict of interest in the proposed operation aimed at streamlining Endesa’s holdings in LatAm. Enersis’ parent Endesa was expected to participate with up to $4.86bn in assets, a valuation arrived at by an outside source. Shareholders, particularly pension funds holding more than 10% of Enersis, and analysts have opposed the planned capital increase, saying the Endesa assets are overvalued. Banchile-Citi, for one, found a 29% premium to market price. The proposed transaction is a deal between two related parties, regulators found, and should be approved by an absolute majority of board members excluding those directors who represent Endesa. Regulators also ordered the electricity company to seek a new valuation of the Endesa assets. Enersis plans to use proceeds from the capital increase to fund merger and acquisition opportunities, advance greenfield projects and buy minority interests.