Category: Equity

Argentina’s Grupo Clarin raised $463m in an IPO. Shares priced at ARP29.14, the low end of an estimated ARP28-ARP35 range. Investors also paid $18.50 for each GDR in London. Proceeds from the sale of 50m shares, or 18% of the company, will repay debt and finance expansion. The shares began trading in Buenos Aires Friday and will start trading in London October 25. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are global coordinators. JPMorgan will lead a group of investment banks managing the international sale, with Merrill Lynch and Itau as co-managers. Credit Suisse was given an option to allocate an additional 7.5m shares.

LLX, the logistics unit of MMX Mineração e Metálicos, plans to IPO on the Bovespa and list GDRs, via Credit Suisse. LLX, which operates ports and other logistics-oriented infrastructure, is 30% owned by a fund controlled by Eike Batista, a billionaire executive in Brazil who’s started up a number of large scale projects in the country’s infrastructure, mining and engineering space. Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan in July purchased 15% stake in LLX for $185m. Separately, Biocapital, an ethanol and biofuels company, also filed this week to go public via Itaú BBA and UBS Pactual. The company was formed in 2005 and plans a local listing only.

A handful of recently IPO-ed Brazilian mid-cap banks are considering raising loans in both the dollar and BRL market, say LatAm loans bankers. With newly gotten equity, financial institutions are looking to lever up balance sheets, and lenders are flocking from all corners to provide financing. Those include multilaterals, Brazilian banks and international banks. At least four issuers, including Banco Pine and Banco Schahin, are heard to be considering the option to extend and renegotiate terms on the loans they obtained with underwriters before going public. The deals would not be sizable by international standards, and are expected to range between under $100m and $250m. Banco Fibra recently completed a $200m IFC A/B loan, including a $40m A piece and a $160m 3-year B loan at 130bp over Libor. This year Pine, Sofisa, BicBanco, ABC, Indusval, Cruzeiro do Sul, Daycoval and Paraná have all gone public.

Brazilian real estate company Trisul raised BRL318.8m from an IPO, the company said in a filing. The 29m shares priced at BRL11 per unit, well below the company’s initial estimate of BRL13-BRL17, a further sign of investor pushback to less known, less liquid names. Shares were due to begin trading late Monday. Morgan Stanley led the offering, with JPMorgan, Banco Real and ABC Brasil also on the deal.

Tivit, an IT outsourcing company in Brazil, filed plans to go public on the Bovespa via Credit Suisse late last week. The company, which will be offering ordinary shares, boasts a large roster of Brazilian and international clients for its outsourcing, systems applications and business solutions. Further details on the offering were not immediately available.

Following the acquisition of RBTT, RBC will explore the possibility of issuing depositary receipts backed by RBC common shares on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange. “Making depositary receipts available in Trinidad and Tobago would further demonstrate our commitment to the region while giving local investors a chance to invest in the growth of one of the best performing financial services companies in the world,” says Peter Armenio, RBC’s head of US & International Banking. RBTT is RBC’s second international acquisition in the past month and the ninth acquisition RBC has announced outside Canada in the past 12 months.

Brazilian real estate company Helbor Empreendimentos plans to raise up to BRL443.7m in an IPO, it says in a regulatory filing. It will begin selling 21.1m shares October 25, at BRL16-BRL21. Investors can reserve shares October 17 through October 22. It will offer 3.17m additional shares if there is sufficient demand. Bradesco is leading the transaction, with UBS Pactual and Banco Safra in the group.

BicBanco and Construtora Tenda are slated to bring IPOs today, according to Dealogic. BicBanco has set a range of BRL11.00-BRL14.50 for its sale of 71.4m shares, which, at the midpoint, means it could raise $485m. BicBanco would be only the latest of a string of mid-sized banks to come to market in Brazil this year, and investors are expected be particularly choosy with these and IPOs from real estate developers. BBI is leading. Construtora Tenda, a real estate developer, is eyeing a BRL9.00-BRL12.00 offering of 77m shares, which could leave it with $439m after the offering. Itaú BBA and Credit Suisse are the leads.

Bovespa Holding plans to raise up to BRL5.3bn in a stock offering October 26. The company that owns the São Paulo stock exchange expects the 250.5m shares to be priced BRL15.5-BRL18.5, and may offer an additional 37.6m shares depending on demand. The expected proceeds would place it among the biggest share sales in the country’s history. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are leads and joint bookrunners, with UBS Pactual as international manager. Itau, Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Santander are also in the underwriting group.

Brazilian IPOs are finding it hard to meet the lofty expectations they and their bankers have been setting for themselves, further evidence that in the current environment, smaller, lesser known names will meet strong resistance. “Investors are tired of looking at small companies, and are being very conscious of liquidity,” notes an ECM banker at a major equity house. Trisul, a construction company, is expected to price its 33m share issue today in a range of BRL13.00-BRL15.00, but one experienced banker away from the deal predicted it could come with a hefty discount, at BRL11.00. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have joint books, according to Dealogic. Both Tenda and BicBanco priced equity late Wednesday evening below the midpoint. The former came at BRL9.00, versus a BRL10.50 midpoint, and the latter at BRL11.50, compared to a midpoint of BRL12.75. Sul America, an ING-owned insurance outfit, began trading on October 4 at BRL31, but has since dropped to below issue price. BB and HSBC led that offering. Also on deck in LatAm equity are Clarin, Marisa, Clinica las Condes, Helbor, Bovespa, Amil, Brasil Brokers, Laep, Agrenco and BR Malls, coming with a rights offering.