Corporacion de Fomento de la Produccion (Corfo) has raised CLP42.65bn ($88m) from the sale of shares in water utility Essal in a public auction, it says. It sold 387.7m shares at CLP110 each, in a sale that cuts its 40% position to 5%. The sale is part of a plan across Chilean government-backed entities to raise funds to help the government fund earthquake repair costs, and was initially attempted in December. Corfo has also sold positions in Aguas Andinas, Essbio and Esval. Banchile and IMTrust managed the sale.
Category: Equity
Posted inDaily Brief
Lupatech Advances Capital Increase
Shareholders of troubled Brazilian oil services company Lupatech have approved a BRL700m ($363m) capitalization plan, it says. Lupatech is to issue 87.5m-175m shares to raise BRL300m-BRL700m. Brazilian development bank BNDES and Petros, the employee pension fund of Brazil’s oil company Petrobras, in April agreed to put up BRL300m of the total capital sought, with the remainder to come from other shareholders, at BRL4.00 a share. Lupatech shares closed Monday at BRL4.15.
Posted inDaily Brief
BTG Plots Africa PE Fund
BTG Pactual’s private equity arm is preparing a fund of approximately $1bn to invest in Africa, according to a source with knowledge of the plan. The fund is expected to be ready within 6 months, collecting capital mostly from Brazilian institutional investors, and will be looking for opportunities in sectors including infrastructure, energy and agribusiness.
Posted inDaily Brief
Pinfra Preps Follow-on
Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura (Pinfra) is preparing an equity follow-on, it says. The Mexican infrastructure firm plans a domestic and international offering of both primary and secondary shares, though the size remains to be defined. The prospectus estimates it could be worth 17%-19% of the company. Pinfra is raising funds for general corporate purposes, including Greenfield and brownfield construction. The secondary share sellers include members of the Penaloza family and various investment funds. JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and Ixe have been named as managers, according to the prospectus. The timing remains to be determined. Pinfra shares closed Friday at MXP62.73 ($4.76).
Posted inDaily Brief
Steelmaker Launches FO
Colombia’s Acerias Paz del Rio has launched an equity follow-on, targeting COP271bn ($155m). The steelmaker controlled by Brazil’s Grupo Votorantim has set a COP30.00 share price for the 9.05bn shares on offer. The sale period closes May 25, with allocation by June 1. Most of the shares are expected to be bought by existing holders exercising their rights, with the remainder going to the open market. Proceeds are marked for repaying debt and funding investment in a mining program. Corredores Asociados is managing the sale. Votorantim owns 72% of Paz del Rio.
Posted inDaily Brief
Carvajal Launches Packaging IPO
Colombia’s Carvajal Empaques has launched an IPO targeting COP212bn ($121m), setting a COP5,300 share price, it says. The Carvajal group’s maker of containers and packaging materials is offering sell 40m shares, or about 36% of itself, during an order period ending May 24, followed by final allocation by May 29. It plans to use the proceeds to repay debt. Corredores Asociados is managing.
Posted inDaily Brief
Steelmaker Defines FO
Colombia’s Acerias Paz del Rio should raise COP271bn ($155m) from its equity follow-on, after setting a COP30.00 share price for the 9.05bn shares on offer, it says. The steelmaker controlled by Brazil’s Grupo Votorantim is expected to formally launch the deal as soon as today. Most of the shares are expected to be bought by existing holders exercising their rights, with the remainder going to the open market. Proceeds are marked for repaying debt. Corredores Asociados is managing the sale. Votorantim owns 72% of Paz del Rio.
Posted inDaily Brief
Corfo Set to Retry Essal Sale
Corporacion de Fomento de la Produccion (Corfo) is planning to sell Friday 387.7m shares of water utility Essal, it says, after attempting a similar follow-on in December. The deal should raise at least CLP42.65bn ($88m), based on a minimum per-share price of CLP110. As part of a broader selldown program among Chilean state-owned entities, Corfo had been looking to reduce its 40% ownership of Essal to about 5%. It launched a sale in December, but had to pull the plug after failing to meet a minimum price. Corfo has also sold positions in Aguas Andinas, Essbio and Esval. Banchile and IMTrust are managing Thursday’s sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Equity Buyside Remains Confident
Volatility has played with equity indexes in the past year, though the region’s long-term equity investors still like LatAm’s fundamentals, and are selectively adding to their favorite positions. And even if it has been long touted and picked over, they still believe in the domestic growth story, with the right names. “The domestic growth story is still very much intact,” Will Landers, senior portfolio manager at BlackRock, which has $1.56trn in equities under management, tells LatinFinance. Landers sees Brazil trading at levels of around 11.5x 2012 earnings, and 10.0x 2013 earnings. He says he doesn’t find the country too expensive, based on the growth seen in many of its companies. Retailers selectively continue to look good to him, with some expensive and others justifying their valuations. Many of the small caps are attractive, says Landers, who is restricted from discussing specific stocks not in the portfolio’s top 10. He identifies retailer Hering and brewer AmBev as two important consumer-focused holdings. “The market hasn’t really done much for 2 years now, and on a price-to-earnings basis most countries are trading in line with or at a small discount to their historical averages. It’s a reasonable entry point. It’s always difficult to time the turnaround, but if you take a medium-term view it seems to make sense to be building a position,” Ian Simmons, portfolio manager at Charlemagne Capital, tells LatinFinance. The key for his fund has been defensive stocks that can still grow in a downturn, such as Brazilian IT provider Totvs. “You have to try to look through some of the noise. In the last 12 months there were a lot of headlines about inflation and monetary policy and the central bank losing independence and so on. But the reality was that the operating numbers for most of these companies still show strong demand and they are companies that are able to grow,” Simmons says. With the threats of external shocks abating, policy decision remains the major ri
Posted inDaily Brief
HRT to Split Stock
Shareholders in Brazilian oil company HRT Participacoes have approved a 1-to-50 stock split, HRT says. The split will become effective on May 28. Shares closed at BRL548.00 ($288) Monday, the most recent day of trading.