Eike Batista plans to take Colombian gold mining company AUX public within 1 year on the Bogota, Sao Paulo and London exchanges. According to a spokeswoman for EBX, Batista’s holding company, he also intends to take his coal mining company, CCX, public for at least $1.5bn. All 5 of the EBX subsidiaries will be listed in London at some point in order to bring in more international investors. EBX also has 5 potential offers for oil assets held by the OGX subsidiary, according to the spokeswoman, including offers from oil companies.
Category: Equity
Posted inDaily Brief
Cement Liz Defines IPO
Cementos Liz is aiming to raise more than BRL600m in its IPO, and is targeting March 31 for the pricing, it says. The Brazilian cement maker plans to offer 47.7m primary shares, at BRL10-BRL13 each. A 15% greenshoe and 20% hot issue are also possible. The deal would raise BRL630m if done at the BRL11.50 midpoint and the greenshoe is exercised. Marketing was scheduled to begin Monday, with pricing March 31. The cement producer, which has operations in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, says it is raising funds for expansion ahead of increased construction needs in anticipation of the 2104 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, and plans to use proceeds to improve and expand its plant and pay down debt. Liz recorded Ebitda of BRL79.7m in 2010, up from BRL49.8m in 2009. It is 100% owned by Tracao, who could see its stake reduced to as little as 66.5%, according to regulatory documents. BTG, Itau and JPMorgan are managing the sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Galp Plans Brazil Raise
Portugal’s Galp Energia is planning to raise about EUR2bn equivalent at its Brazilian unit in the second half of 2011, it says. The oil company does not state explicitly whether it will take on debt or equity, but does note that the operation “will allow Galp Energia to achieve a net debt to equity below 50%.” The company’s ratio at year end 2010 was 105%, according to regulatory documents, suggesting that an equity raise is in the works. A Galp spokesman declines to comment on the specifics of the deal. Galp has minority stakes in various large Brazilian oil finds and prospects, including a 10% stake in the giant subsalt Tupi reserve.
Posted inDaily Brief
Repsol Sells YPF Stake, Readies Float
As part of its continuing effort to lower its stake in Argentina’s YPF, Spain’s Repsol has agreed to sell a private stake sale of $639m to a group of investors. The oil and gas company plans to raise more than $1bn from the public sale of ADSs. The public deal, expected March 22, will see 24.27m ADS offered, plus a 3.64m share greeenshoe. Such a deal would raise $1.35bn at Monday’s $48.30 closing price if the overallotment is exercised. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are global coordinators, while Deutsche Bank, Itau, Raymond James Argentina and Santander are joint bookrunners on the deal, which represents a 7.10% stake, including the overallotment. A US and London roadshow began Monday. Separately, Repsol says it has sold a $484m stake, or 2.9%, to Lazard Asset Management and a $155m, or 0.93%, piece to a group of other private investors it does not name. These shares were sold at $42.40 per share, valuing Repsol at $16.68bn. The sales are part of Repsol’s plan to reduce its stake in and increase the free float of YPF. It sold a $500m 3.3% piece to Eton Park Capital Management and Capital Guardian Trust at the end of 2010. Repsol now holds 75.9% of YPF, investor Grupo Peterson has 15.5%, and 8.7% floats freely, with the upcoming deal set to lower Repsol’s stake as low as 68.8%.
Posted inDaily Brief
Grupo Marti to Increase Capital
Mexican retail group Grupo Marti plans to issue 20 million shares on the Mexican stock exchange, each priced at MXP1.99 for the value of MXP39.82m, according to a regulatory filing, following its annual general meeting.
Posted inDaily Brief
Outflows Continue for LatAm Equities
LatAm equities posted outflows of $97m in the week ended March 9, says EPFR Global. Within LatAm, only Mexico funds registered inflows, which amounted to $53m, the shop adds. “Flows into LatAm equity funds were negative for the eighth consecutive week,” EPFR says. “But some of the optimism about US prospects finally spilled over into Mexico equity funds which posted their biggest weekly inflow since early December,” it adds. GEM funds posted outflows of $96m. As for performance, Lipper data show that on the week ended March 10, performance was negative, with LatAm funds losing 4.28%. Year-to-date they are down 7.11%. Meanwhile, EM funds dropped 1.86% in the week and are down 4.47% ytd and global small and mid-cap funds are down 2.65% in the week and 0.01% ytd.
Posted inDaily Brief
Taboada ABS Set to Close
The Taboada wastewater treatment plant in Lima is expected to close a PES923m ($334m) ABS as soon as today, according to a banker on the deal. The issuer has set a yield of the IPC inflation index plus 5.965%, and will look to close this week. This is in line with 6.0% area indications investors had received earlier. The transaction is divided into a PES448m 2026 tranche, a PES375m 2033 tranche and a PES100m 2033 tranche, according to Fitch, which rates the transaction BBB on an international scale. Despite the different maturities, the yield is the same for each of the three tranches, the banker says. To help fund construction of the plant by Spain’s ACS, it will sell bonds backed by future revenues from its contract with Peru’s state-owned water utility company Sedapal. The proceeds of the issuance will be used to purchase retribucion por inversion (RPI) payments from Taboada, for the funding of reserve accounts, and for transaction expenses, Fitch explains. The RPIs are denominated in PES and are periodically adjusted for inflation. Taboada will build the plant and receive Certificados de Avance de Obras (CAOs) from Sedapal as certain construction milestones are reached. The CAOs originate the RPI payments, and the issuance of an individual CAO gives the owner the right to receive 80 equal consecutive quarterly fixed payments (RPICAOs) in proportion to the overall work completed. The RPICAOs will then be sold to the Taboada Finance Limited special purpose vehicle. The RPICAO payments are guaranteed by Peru’s government. The first 2 tranches will be funded at closing, while the final tranche may be drawn only after project completion. Construction is expected to be completed in 3 phases, finishing July 2013. BNP Paribas is managing the sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Aval Readies Domestic Share Offer
Colombia’s Grupo Aval plans to sell 800m to 1.6bn new shares in the domestic market, it says. Such a transaction would raise COP1.196trn-COP2.392trn ($637m-$1.27bn) if done at Thursdays COP1,495 share price. The timing is unclear, as the financial conglomerate that is the parent of Banco de Bogota, Banco Popular and Corficolombiana says it must still receive regulatory approval. The transaction is heard to be in pre-marketing and expected to be approved in as soon as 1-2 weeks. Corredores Asociados is heard to be managing the sale. The domestic deal is expected to be another step ahead of a New York listing, for which Aval filed initial papers earlier this week. Colombia is set to have an active first half of the year in its stock market. Avianca, the Colombian airline, is said to be preparing an IPO of perhaps $200m-$400m, also through Corredores Asociados, and Ecopetrol is readying the follow on sale of an up to 9.9% stake, heard through Bancolombia, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan.
Posted inDaily Brief
Banco de Chile Preps Share Sale
Banco de Chile is preparing a 1.4bn share equity follow-on, according to documents filed with the SEC. Shareholders approved a total capital raise of up to 3.39bn shares in January. Marketing is set to begin on March 15, with pricing expected March 30. The filing names the bank’s Banchile Corredores unit and LarrainVial as bookrunners. Banco de Chile plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, mainly growing its lending operations.
Posted inDaily Brief
MPX to Tap Private Converts
MPX Energia plans to sell up to BRL1.3bn in domestic convertible bonds to finance coal and natural-gas projects in Colombia and Brazil, it says. The 3-year bonds are set to pay the ICPA inflation rate plus 4.00%, and would be convertible at any time until maturity at BRL43.00 per share. In the private deal, Eike Batista’s energy company has agreed to sell BRL600m to the BNDES development bank, BRL200m to private equity and asset management firm Gavea Investimentos and BRL200m to Batista himself. MPX will also offer its minority shareholders the rights to buy up to BRL333m. Proceeds from the sale will be used to finance MPX’s coal investment in Colombia and in natural-gas production and power generation in the Brazilian state of Paraiba. MPX shares closed Thursday at BRL37.01. Following the deal, BNDES and Gavea will each get to appoint a member to MPX’s board.