Category: Equity

Renewable energy specialist Venti has filed to postpone its IPO in Brazil, according to a source familiar with the process. The would-be spinoff of Argentina’s Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona (IMPSA) had filed to list BDRs in February, but will now wait 60 days, due to market volatility. Venti’s LatAm holdings include wind and hydro in Brazil, which accounts for the majority of revenue, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Colombia. In Southeast Asia, it owns assets in Vietnam and Malaysia. In December, IMPSA Wind, the wind power unit of the group that will become part of Venti, won concessions to operate 8 lots in the Brazilian state of Ceara totaling 211MW. That will likely demand investments of over BRL1bn. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and BTG Pactual are managing the Venti deal. In 2009, hydro revenues totaled BRL265m while its wind businesses generated BRL133m. Total Ebitda in 2009 came in at BRL120m.

Mexican brokerage Actinver has raised MXP841m from its IPO, pricing at MXP10.75, towards the higher end of the MXP9.50-MXP11.50 range. The brokerage sold 65.3m primary and 13.1m secondary shares, or a 15% stake, to mark Mexico’s second IPO in as many weeks, following a drought that lasted nearly 2 years. Actinver is raising funds to capitalize the bank, working capital and to repay debt to the Prudential Group, from which it last year purchased Prudential Financial Operadora de Sociedades de Inversion and Prudential Bank. Actinver’s own brokerage managed the transaction, with BBVA Bancomer, HSBC, Inbursa, Invex, Ixe and UBS enlisted as co-managers. Last week, retailer Grupo Chedraui broke Mexico’s IPO ice, raising MXP5.23bn. Following legal changes allowing pension funds greater equity investment flexibility, a line of debut issuers has formed which next includes Developer Tres Marias and grower Proteak, raising up to MXP1bn each, as soon as this month.

Brazil’s Autometal has named Santander as lead bookrunner for its IPO, along with Credit Suisse and JPMorgan as bookrunners. The Brazilian unit of Spanish auto parts manufacturer CIE Automotive announced plans to IPO earlier this week, to raise funds to continue growing in Brazil and the NAFTA markets. Autometal claims to have doubled in size during 2005-2009, and posted Ebidta of BRL215.3m in 2009. The issuer has yet to indicate a specific fundraising target, or timeline for the offer.

Mexican brokerage Actinver is set to price tonight its IPO, according to a company official. The transaction will raise MXP902m if done at the top of its range. The 65.3m primary and 13.1m secondary shares – representing a 15% stake in Actinver – have a stated price range of MXP9.50-MXP11.50, according to regulatory documents. Actinver aims to raise funds to capitalize the bank, working capital and to repay debt to the Prudential Group, from which it last year purchased Prudential Financial Operadora de Sociedades de Inversion and Prudential Bank. The brokerage had MXP1.37bn in operating income in 2009, according to the filing. Actinver’s own brokerage is managing the transaction, with BBVA Bancomer, HSBC, Inbursa, Invex, Ixe and UBS enlisted as co-managers. Last week, retailer Grupo Chedraui became the first Mexican IPO in almost 2 years, raising MXP5.23bn. Following legal changes allowing pension funds greater equity investment flexibility, a line of debut issuers is starting to form, particularly on the smaller end. Developer Tres Marias and grower Proteak plan to raise up to MXP1bn each, as soon as this month.

Spanish auto parts manufacturer CIE Automotive is planning an IPO for its Autometal unit on Brazil’s stock exchange, according to a filing requesting a listing with the CVM. A prospectus has not yet been lodged, but CIE said in a recent Spanish regulatory filing that it was considering a Sao Paulo equity launch. The deal is aimed at raising funds to boost CIE’s presence in Brazil, Mexico and other markets in the region, by growing Autometal into an Americas-wide company. The new equity hopeful enters a rocky Brazilian market that has been plagued by failure this year. IPO issuers continue to disagree with investors – who remember being sold questionable stories in 2007 – about the value of their companies. Autometal will have to tread carefully with the skittish buyside, which has ample cash to spend on new LatAm equity, but is very sensitive to price. Julio Simoes Logistica was the last Brazil equity IPO this year, raising BRL446.5m on April 19 by pricing 55.8m units at BRL8.0, short of the BRL8.5-BRL9.5 target, well below where the Brazilian logistics provider had started marketing. It closed Monday at BRL8.09 and the range was chopped from an initial BRL10.75-BRL13.75. “Investment bankers and the companies may still want to get a higher price, but as we’ve seen from a number of specific recent deals, they are not getting their way, and that’s a more rational market overall,” says Geoff Dennis, head of global EM equity and LatAm strategist at Citi. “Investors have the memory of how they got burned badly last time,” adds Dennis, speaking in a recent interview.

Mexico’s first IPO in nearly 2 years, Grupo Comercial Chedraui, traded up 5.4% Friday, after pricing in the wee hours of the morning to raise MXP5.23bn. The shares closed at MXP35.85, according to Dow Jones, on a day when the Mexican bolsa fell 0.53%. Chedraui, the previously family-owned retailer, sold 139.4m primary and 15.3m secondary shares at MXP34, the lower end of a MXP32-MXP40 targeted range. The total includes a 19.9m share overallotment. Mexican investors accounted for 54.8m shares, or 45% of the sale. Chedraui raised the funds to refinance debt and for other general corporate purposes. Banamex and BBVA Bancomer led the Mexican portion of the deal, with Citi and Credit Suisse on the international portion. The issuer is the fourth-largest retailer in Mexico, and was founded in 1920 by Lazaro Chedraui and operates the Chedraui and Super Chedraui chains in Mexico and El Super in the US. In 2005 it acquired Carrefour’s Mexican operations.