Santander’s plan to launch an IPO of its Mexican division shows the bank has more flexibility to boost its capital than other Spanish lenders, Fitch says. “The listing of a 25% stake in the business will reduce revenue from the region, but is not an indication that Santander is retreating from Latin America,” the agency says. Santander’s diversification across Latin America means it has options when it comes to strengthening capital. In December, the bank sold an additional 7.8% of Santander Chile in a $949m follow-on in December, and sold all of its Colombia unit to CorpBanca for $1.23bn. Santander is in the process of choosing the managers for its Mexico, IPO, according to ECM bankers. Fitch rates Santander Mexico A minus.
Category: Equity
Posted inDaily Brief
AmBev Plans Capital Raise
Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (Ambev) plans to raise as much as BRL432m ($229m) via a private share issue to existing holders, it says. The Brazilian brewer plans to issue up to 4.26m ordinary shares at BRL51.56 each and 3.33m preferred shares at BRL63.82m each. The prices match the closing levels on January 31, the company says, and compare to BRL67.41 and BRL80.29 respective levels at Monday’s close. The offer opens Wednesday and runs through June 1. AmBev continues to expand in LatAm, recently spending $1.24bn to get control of Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana, in the Dominican Republic.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombian Steelmaker Close to FO
Acerias Paz del Rio is expected to launch an equity follow-on as soon as this week, according to sources familiar with the operation. The steelmaker that is part of Brazil’s Grupo Votorantim is planning to sell 9.05bn shares, which should raise about $150m-equivalent. Most is expected to be bought by existing holders exercising their rights, with the remainder going to the open market. Corredores Asociados is managing the sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombians Prep Packaging Spinoff
Colombia’s Carvajal plans to launch an IPO for its Carvajal Empaques unit. The maker of containers and packaging materials plans to sell 40m shares, or about 36% of itself, and will define the price prior to the launch, which is expected later this week, according to sources familiar with the process. A transaction of $100m-equivalent is expected. It plans to use the proceeds to repay debt. Corredores Asociados is managing.
Posted inDaily Brief
Industrial Property Developer Plans IPO
Mexico’s Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta is planning to hold an IPO, according to regulatory documents. The industrial property developer does not give an indication of the size of the transaction or when it will be launched. Vesta plans to use 75% of the proceeds for construction of new projects and the remainder for acquisitions. The developer is in 11 Mexican states and specializes in light manufacturing and distribution facilities. Credit Suisse and Santander are managing.
Posted inMagazine
BTG Bucks Brazil Trend
The deal that everyone inside and outside of Brazil had been waiting for did not disappoint. BTG Pactual priced a 3.66 billion real ($1.95 billion) IPO, pushing on size, […]
Posted inMagazine
Growing Pains
Agribusiness is pushing farmland prices higher and scaring politicians in its search for returns. Some operators are broadening their geographies.
Posted inMagazine
Keeping the Faith
Volatility has complicated life for the equity buyside and dented market performance in the past year. Long-term investors are still sticking to the consumer demand story.
Posted inDaily Brief
Alpek Rises after Debut
Mexico’s Alpek traded up Thursday following the late Wednesday night pricing of its MXP10.44bn ($794m) IPO at the bottom of its range. In the country’s first IPO since July, the Grupo Alfa-controlled petrochemicals producer sold 379.8m shares, including an overallotment, at MXP27.50 each, versus a MXP27.50-MXP31.50 range. The shares finished Thursday at MXP27.92, up 1.53%. The deal was oversubscribed, and went 50% to domestic accounts and 50% to international accounts, according to a banker on the deal, contrary to plans for 75% to be sold outside of Mexico. At the low end of the range, the deal implies a valuation of 6.9x-7.3x 2012 earnings, analysts say, compared to Mexichem’s 7.6x and a 7.3x-7.5x sector average. The polyethylene and polypropylene producer, many of whose products are used in the food and beverage industry, is raising funds to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. Credit Suisse, Citi, HSBC and Morgan Stanley managed the sale. The deal was be the first Mexican IPO since BanRegio raised MXP2.09bn in July, and is the second-largest ever IPO on the Bolsa, after OHL Mexico’s MXP11.2bn sale in 2010, according to Dealogic. Larger debut sales from Mexicans, including Fresnillo, GAP and Telmex, were done on foreign bourses as ADRs or GDRs. There are not any other registered upcoming equity deals in Mexico, through a second-ever Fibra real estate trust and an IPO for Santander’s Mexico unit appear to be the most notable deals in the planning stages.
Posted inDaily Brief
BTG Trades Up Following IPO
In a widely anticipated trading debut, BTG Pactual shares rose Thursday, along with the Bovespa, supporting the bank’s decision to price the IPO Tuesday at the middle of its price range despite 3x demand. BTG priced 93.6m primary and 23.4m secondary units at BRL31.25 each, versus a BRL28.75-BRL33.75 range. The total includes a 15% greenshoe and about 75% of an 18m share hot issue option. The shares closed at BRL31.45 Thursday. Proceeds are going towards BTG’s expansion. BTG itself was global coordinator, with Bradesco, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi and Banco do Brasil as joint bookrunners, and Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and UBS as lead managers. With the Locamerica and Unicasa IPOs on either side of BTG pricing below their ranges, the BTG deal was not expected to have an immediate lifting effect on the Brazilian new issuance going forward.