Category: Equity

Brazil’s investment funds administrator, Tarpon Investment Group, raised 401.5m Brazilian reais ($206.3m) from its initial public offering of shares on the Bovespa, according to Dealogic. Tarpon sold 18.25m shares at 22 reais each, the low end of 22-30 reais guidance. The shares are trading today in Brazil and with qualified foreign investors under 144a SEC rules. Credit Suisse led the deal. Tarpon is the second investment fund administrator to list its shares in Brazil. GP Investments raised 758.4m reais ($329.7m) in its June 2006 IPO, also through Credit Suisse.

Brazilian investment manager Tarpon Investments, which is headquartered in Bermuda, plans to price its IPO as early as today, Tuesday, according to Dealogic. The company, which specializes in private equity funds and has BRL1.53bn under management, is hoping to raise BRL540m, or $275m. It will sell 21m Brazilian Depository Receipts, or Bovespa-listed shares designated for offshore issuers at a range of BRL22-30. Credit Suisse is leading.

Brazilian bank Paraná Banco has offered more information regarding its forthcoming listing via local Bovespa exchange. Paraná is to join the growing list of mid-sized banks seeking to float their stock on Bovespa. The IPO, via UBS, will comprise a primary offering of 37.8m preferred shares with an expected price range of between BRL14 and BRL18 per share. Trading is expected to begin June 14. The consumer credit bank specialist will join Nossa Caixa and Banco Pine in its plans. The shares will be sold in Brazil and to qualified foreign investors under 144A rules used by the SEC.

Chilean air carrier Lan raised $181.16m via the sale of 11.24 million new shares on Friday, according to the Santiago Stock Exchange. The shares were priced at 8,401.00 pesos ($16.24) or $80.56 per ADS, better than originally expected. The increase in its share capital will be used to fund LAN’s expansion plans over the next four years, which have an estimated cost of around $1.8 billion. The airline has units in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru.

Stable food prices helped to keep Brazil’s inflation down to 0.25% in April, according to the national statistics agency IBGE. Inflation, as measured by IPCA, slowed from 0.37% in March helped by a marginal 0.03% price rise in foodstuffs. Annual inflation, meanwhile, rose from 2.96% to 3.0%, while cumulatively prices rose by 1.51%.

Brazilian Banco Daycoval will join two other mid-sized banks to list on Bovespa this year – Sofisa and Pine – after it filed with the securities commission, CVM, to launch an IPO of preferred shares later this year. UBS will coordinate the offering. The São Paulo-based bank booked revenues of $218m in 2006, a 60% rise over 2005 sales. Other mid-tiered banks in the pipeline include Banco Cruzeiro do Sul, Banco Bonsucesso, and Paraná Banco.

Peruvian mining company Volcan is preparing to list its stock on the Santiago and London Stock Exchanges, the company announced. Volcan will be the first Peruvian firm to list in Chile and the second to list in London. The zinc miner will join Spain’s Endesa, Canada’s Aur Resources and Methanex on the so-called “offshore market.” Last year, silver mining company Hochschild Mining opted to float its stock on the London exchange.

Brazilian companies are lining up to issue IPOs on Bovespa. In filings with the local securities commission, the CVM, on Tuesday, credit-card services provider Redecard, clothing company Hering and logistic company Tegman all said they were planning an initial public offering of shares on Bovespa. Redecard is owned by Itaú and Unibanco, as well as Citi. Banco Itaú will coordinate the Redecard issue and will also be handling the offering being planned by Hering. Meantime, JP Morgan will coordinate the IPO being lined up by Tegma Gestao Logistica.

Brazil’s Banco Industrial e Comercial (BICBanco) is planning to float its stock on Bovespa, the company said in a filing with the securities commission, CVM. UBS is coordinating the offering. The Bank, which specializes in trade finance, was the country’s first bank to join the IFC’s Trade Finance Facilitation Program (TFFP) as an issuing bank, last February. It is the ninth-largest private bank, serving medium-sized companies.