Category: Equity

Shares in the spinoff of Telmex International from the Mexican telecom giant traded up 7.11% on the local bolsa to close at MXP8.90 a share. Telmex spun off all LatAm businesses and the Mexican yellow pages business, which already has an international presence, to a new holding company. The deal aimed to boost efficiency and allow each unit to operate autonomously for administrative, commercial and financial purposes. The new holding company will be listed in Mexico and the US. The move should help free Telmex from pressure that recent government anti-trust actions put on the company’s stock, say analysts.

Credit Suisse has replaced Sebastien Chatel – former MD and head of ECM who left for Merrill Lynch in March – with two executives who will oversee LatAm new issuance and origination efforts. Rafael Pagano, a Sao Paulo-based vp will run Brazil ECM, while Jacob Alvarez was hired from Citi, also as a vp, and will do non-Brazil ECM. Both will report to Jeff Bunzel, head of Americas ECM. The replacements carry more junior titles than Chatel’s. The changes come at a time when Credit Suisse was already planning on assigning a person to cover Brazil only, Bunzel tells LatinFinance. In Brazil, Pagano will be competing head-to-head with Chatel, who will be based in Merrill’s Sao Paulo office with a mandate to lure new issuers including SMEs to the equity markets.

Infinity Bio-Energy has filed to list Brazilian depositary receipts in a public offering on the Bovespa. The Brazilian-led Bermuda-based ethanol producer plans use proceeds to finance new acquisitions, greenfield projects, investment in existing mills and co-generation projects. Infinity raised $516m in a 2006 IPO on London’s AIM, and has already invested more than $400m in projects in Brazil.

Jamaica’s Carlton Savannah REIT has extended the closing date of its IPO to June 13 from May 30, the company says. “The decision to extend the closing date of the offer was greatly influenced by the feedback from investors indicating an insufficient amount of time to consider an entirely new IPO concept,” the firm states. Carlton Savannah expects to raise around $17.3m through the offer and seeks to purchase 16 apartments at the Carlton Savannah, a boutique hotel and apartment complex in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and pay shareholders with rental income. The firm aims to sell approximately 212m shares, at 5.91 Jamaican dollars per share and redistribute 95% of its income in the form of dividends, which will be taxed 15% in Trinidad but not in Jamaica, offering a dividend yield of around 6.3%.

Brazilian agricultural developer BrasilAgro could re-tap the equity markets with in the next 12 months, as funds raised in a 2004 IPO deplete. “We will, depending on conditions, likely approach the market in the next 12 months looking for more resources,” Carlos Aguiar, CFO, tells LatinFinance, noting the importance of attracting new investors. He says that over 90% of its funds are committed, and that BrasilAgro could raise BRL200m-BRL300m from such a sale. The developer – founded by Cresud, Tarpon Investment and Elie Horn – aims to complete the sale of at least one of its properties this year, which it has not yet done despite acquiring about 20,000 hectares. “This is not for lack of interested buyers,” Aguiar says. “We have an exit price for each one of our projects.” To issue more equity, BrasilAgro requires steady stock and commodity market conditions, as well as proof of at least one development at the targeted return. The developer, which diversifies by developing land for grains, sugar cane, livestock and forestry in different areas of the country, aims to get to 25,000-30,000 hectares within 12 months.

Consultatio, the Argentine high-end residential property developer, has priced its IPO, raising the peso equivalent of $112.5m. The company sold 110m shares May 26 at ARP3.20. While that amount of shares was raised from an initially targeted 90m shares, the company priced below the targeted ARP3.44-ARP3.67 range. JPMorgan and Credit Suisse had joint books on the offering, and collected $3.9m in fees, according to Dealogic.

OGX, the oil and gas exploration startup owned by Eike Batista, could raise up to BRL6.45bn ($3.85bn) with a June 11 IPO, according to a local filing. The first big Brazilian IPO of the year was initially expected to raise around $2bn. But the new higher amount could be achieved if the offer prices at the midpoint of a targeted BRL883-BRL1,131 range, and if the company also exercises a greenshoe. OGX aims to take on Petrobras in the booming Brazilian oil business after winning seven exploration blocks off the country’s coastline. The sale, kept out of reach of retail by an elevated price, is led by UBS Pactual, with Credit Suisse and Itau BBA as joint bookrunners. Aside from Batista, whose Centennial Asset Mining Fund controls 73% of OGX, chief shareholders include Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Ziff Brothers, UBS Prestige and Morgan Stanley. Batista was in New York last week and has embarked on a roadshow to sell the deal, being shown to the buyside through the first week of June. The offer marks only the second true IPO of the year for Brazil, a weak showing for a country that boasted some of the highest IPO volume in the world last year. Bankers away from the transaction are hopeful investors will warm up to this liquid offer from a hot sector, which may also pave the way for others waiting in the wings.

Consultatio, one of Argentina’s largest asset managers and a significant real estate developer, is lining up a rare local IPO. The company is targeting a range of ARP3.44-ARP3.67, and set to distribute shares in the week of May 26. The Buenos Aires listing, which could raise ARP271m, is heard aided by JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch for international distribution. “This is a very interesting development from a timing perspective,” says Christopher Ecclestone, an analyst at Hallgarten, adding that the decision to remain in BA is particularly notable. A local broker says interest in the listing is strong. Also coming up in Argentina is the $2bn or more listing of YPF secondary shares, which will constitute a sort of IPO for the oil and gas giant, which today is thinly traded. Spain’s Repsol YPF is divesting Argentine holdings by selling a quarter of itself to a private equity group for $2.2bn, and another 25% through the IPO. Credit Suisse, UBS, Goldman Sachs and Itau are leading that offer.

An IPO for Mexican pharmaceuticals distributor Genomma Lab Internacional is heard in the works, targeting a raise above $300m. IXE and Santander are running the deal locally, with Merrill Lynch and UBS leading the international effort. Up to 184m shares will be sold, including a greenshoe, or 33% of the capital. Timing should be roughly in line with the BMV’s own IPO, which is slated to price mid-June. The latter could raise $440m and represents a significant landmark for Mexican equity markets. The initial range for the deal via BBVA and UBS is MXP14.00-MXP19.00, Dealogic says.