Deutsche Bank has hired Jeffrey Bunzel, it says, to head ECM in the Americas. Bunzel is due to start in September, after 18 years at Credit Suisse. He will be managing director, reporting to Mark Hantho, global co-head ECM. As Bunzel was involved in many LatAm deals at CS, his hiring is expected to help Deutsche win more ECM mandates in the region, according to sources at the Bank. There are no specific plans to add additional staff to the bank’s regional ECM team, which now numbers less than 10, they say.
Category: Equity
Posted inDaily Brief
Qualicorp Sets Selldown Date
Brazil’s Qualicorp will start meeting investors March 28 ahead of the April 12 pricing of its equity follow-on, according to a prospectus. In the all-secondary share deal, private equity firm Carlyle and founder Jose Seripieri Filho stand to earn BRL836m ($465m) from the sale of 55.8m shares, based on Monday’s BRL 14.99 close and assuming a 15% greenshoe is used. Both were sellers in the BRL731m secondary portion of last year’s IPO, and are further reducing their holdings. Carlyle is set to go from a 39.49% stake to 26.03%, and Seripieri from 27.85% to 19.85%, assuming the greenshoe is exercised. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bradesco, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are managing the transaction.
Posted inDaily Brief
Chile Bolsa to Add Derivatives
The Bolsa de Santiago is planning to launch this year trading in certain derivative instruments, it says. The objective is to attract foreign investors in the hope of doubling the amount traded on the bolsa. The exchange is working in partnership with Brazil’s BM&FBovespa to have IPSA index, fixed income and dollar futures before the end of June, and present options for stocks in the second half.
Posted inDaily Brief
Fibria Plans Follow-on, Unloads Land
Continuing with its multiyear plan to strengthen finances, Brazil’s Fibria is planning to raise BRL1.25bn ($710m) in an equity follow-on, and has agreed to offload land assets to raise $235m, it says. The pulp and paper producer is preparing to file for an equity offering to raise additional funds, but does not offer any additional details. Barclays spots the offering at 17.6% of Fibra’s market cap, it says in a report. It would be the first offering under the new Fibria name, though both Votorantim Celulose e Papel and Aracruz are longtime Bovespa members. VCP last issued for $253m equivalent in 2003, and VCP for $234m equivalent in 1995, according to Dealogic data. Fibria shares closed at BRL15.20 Thursday. Fibria also has agreed to sell forestry assets in the southern part of Bahia state Corus Agroflorestal, for BRL235m. Corus also has the option to buy Fibria’s 33% stake in the Bahia Produtos de Madeira sawmill, located in the same region. It hopes to finalize the land sales by June. “Although the announced measures will help the company to respect covenants in 1Q and 2Q 2012, we do not see them as the ultimate solution for leverage,” Barclays says. The shop sees net debt to Ebitda reaching 3.8x, under a bullish pulp price scenario, noting it would prefer 3.0x-3.5x.
Posted inDaily Brief
JBS Ups Stake in Pilgrim’s Pride
Brazilian meatpacker JBS has paid $143.3m to increase its stake in US chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride to 68%, through the most recent company share offering. Pilgrim’s sold 44.4m new shares at $4.50 per share to revamp its capital structure, and through that offer, JBS spent $134m to maintain its original 67.2% stake, a Pilgrim’s spokeswoman confirms. JBS spent an additional $9.3m to raise its stake to 68%, based on company data. The Pilgrim’s spokeswoman declined to offer additional details and JBS officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Pilgrim’s managed to secure $200m from the sale of the new shares. JBS first acquired a stake in Pilgrim’s in 2009 with the financial backing of Brazil’s BNDES development bank.
Posted inDaily Brief
CME, Bovespa Strike Cross-Listing Deal
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) has struck a deal with Brazil’s BM&FBovespa (BVMF) for the cross listing and licensing of traded index- and commodities-based futures, it says. Under the deal, the CME will list dollar-denominated futures of the Bovespa, while the BVMF will offer dollar-denominated S&P 500 index futures settled in BRL. The Brazilian market will also list the Chicago Board of Trade’s Mini-sized Soybean futures and the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures in the second and third quarters of this year, respectively. Officials at the CME were not immediately available for comment. A BVMF investor relations officer says the deal involves an agreement to share the revenue generated by the trading of these securities, in which the owner of the security will take the larger share of the revenues. He declined to offer details of the deals, however. The BVMF official said the market will also pay a license for the use of the S&P 500 product and for the market data generated by the trading of the futures contract at the CME.
Posted inDaily Brief
Brazil’s Embratel Plots Net Tender, Streamlining
Embratel has reached 92.2% of control of operator Net Servicios de Comunicacao, and plans to launch a tender for the remaining shares, delist them and prepare a reorganization of Embratel’s businesses in Brazil. Embrapar, the parent of the Carlos Slim-owned telecom, increased its stake in GB Empreendimentos e Participacoes, the company that controls Net, by 5.5% to a total of 54.5%, it says, to reach the 92.2% level. It plans to soon offer holders of all Net shares a maximum of BRL26.04 ($14.80) per share, adjustable for changes in the DI rate until the time of the offer. Should the price of the valuation of shares exceed the maximum price offered, Embrapar could choose to cancel the tender. Officials at Net and Embratel could not immediately be reached for additional comment as to how many shares Embratel targets and what it would cost. Following a delisting of Net, Embratel says it would examine a restructuring.
Posted inDaily Brief
Builder Launches Colombia IPO
Colombia’s Construcciones El Condor has launched its COP150bn-COP162bn ($85m-$91m) IPO, starting a sale period that will close March 27, with final allocations shortly after. The engineering and construction company is selling 106m shares at COP1,415 each. The sale represents an 18.75% float, which would reach 20% if a 9m overallotment is exercised. Bancolombia is managing the transaction.
Posted inDaily Brief
CPFL Renewables Ponders IPO
CPFL is studying the possibility of an IPO for its CPFL Energias Renovaveis business, according to a person following the matter. There is not yet an indication of the size, timing or which banks might be involved. The company is said to seek funds for what it sees as a new phase of growth ahead in Brazil’s renewable energy sector. CPFL has 309MW in hydroelectric, wind and biomass generation in operation, plus another 1,518MW in development. Last month CPFL agreed to pay BRL1.062bn ($669.8m) for Bons Ventos, a company that owns 4 operating wind farms.
Posted inDaily Brief
Fibra Uno Targets $600m Retap
Mexico’s Fibra Uno is looking to raise more than MXP8bn ($615m) in a reopening of its domestic real estate income trust, known as a Fibra, and expects to price March 22, according to regulatory filings. The issuer has indicated it will sell 325m new shares, including a 48.75m overallotment, which would mean a MXP8.13bn deal at Tuesday’s MXP25.00 closing price. The sale would raise funds for Fibra Uno, the only Fibra launched since the creation of the asset class, to acquire new properties. The sale aims to raise substantially more than the MXP3.17bn IPO held last year. Santander and BBVA are global coordinators, with Credit Suisse also on an international 144a/RegS portion. Protego and Actinver are joining on a domestic portion. In January, Fibra Uno agreed with real estate investor MexFund to acquire up to 23 properties in exchange for shares in the Fibra, allowing the total portfolio to reach as many as 40 properties. Starting with 16 at the time of the IPO, Fibra Uno added a 17th last year, and counts on MXP3.6bn in revolvers to help fund acquisitions. Put together by a group of property owners led by CEO Andre El-Mann, the fund saw delays in getting the asset class’ debut off the ground in the IPO, with the issuer reducing the size and price and agreeing to put in its own equity. Its assets include industrial, commercial, office, and mixed-use properties located throughout Mexico.