Category: Equity

The Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) Wednesday launched a new composite index, IPC CompMx, aimed at offering a wider choice to investing local pension funds, Afores, and to help develop the domestic capital market. The new, broader, index comprises 60 Mexican companies and is divided into three sub-indices – LargeCap, MidCap and SmallCap – each containing 20 companies.

Brazilian food manufacturer M. Dias Branco, which makes cookies and pasta, says a shareholder has raised almost $170 million by listing shares of the company on Bovespa. The initial public offering of 17.22 million voting shares was made by investment fund Dibra Fundo de Investimento em Participações, which sold the shares for 21 reais a share. The offering was led by Banco Pactual.

Argentine energy firm Socotherm América is preparing to list up to 15 million shares next month on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, representing around 17.5% of its stock. This will be the first new listing on the exchange in almost six years. Banco Río and HSBC will lead the transaction. The company hopes to raise around $40 million via the IPO to fund plant construction in Venezuela and the Gulf of Mexico, and increase operations in West Africa.

Peruvian silver mining company Hochschild Mining is seeking to finance growth in the region via a listing on the London Stock Exchange. The company operates three mines in Peru, producing around 10.5 million ounces of silver last year. It also has mining interests in Mexico and Argentina. JPMorgan Cazenove and Goldman Sachs International will act as coordinators and bookrunners for the IPO.

Brazilian pharmaceuticals distributor Profarma expects to raise up to $170 million from its sale of 15.5 million common shares through an initial public offering (IPO) on Bovespa. The share offering will comprise 12 million shares sold via a primary offering and 3.5 million via a secondary sale. Credit Suisse will coordinate. The shares will be priced October 24 once bookbuilding is completed. The Rio de Janeiro-based company is among the top three medicines distribution companies in the country, controlling 8% of the market. Profarma joins the growing list of Brazilian companies going public and follows others in the health sector such as Dasa, Medial and Odontroprev to apply to list their stock.

Brazilian IT company Positiva Automatica has filed with the country’s securities regulator (CVM) to list on Bovespa. The company plans to offer common shares via an intial public offering. The company gave no details about when it planned to list its stock or how many shares would be included in the offering. Positiva Automatica will become the fourth Brazilian company to list on Bovespa.

Argentine Pampa Holding, part of Dolphin Group, has issued 300 million shares worth $112 million via the Stock Exchange as part of a structural reorganization and move to increase its share capital. Meanwhile, Argentina’s securities exchange (Merval) has announced that Pampa’s shares will form part of its Merval Index in the last quarter of the year. The money raised from the share issuance will go towards completing the acquisition of two hydroelectric plants in Mendoza province and other investment plans in the sector. Dolphin bought Pampa last year with a view to using it as an investment vehicle for the electricity sector.

Colombian brewer Bavaria is likely to be leaving the Colombian Stock Exchange soon. Owner SABMiller announced it was to buy up 100% of the company’s shares. Anglo-South African SABMiller currently owns 98% of the Colombian company. Bavaria will follow a well-trodden path of companies that have delisted from the exchange in the past 24 months. Last year Grupo Diaco, Sidelpa, Papeles Nacionales and Pavco all went private; this year nine companies including Coltabaco, Bansuperior, and Cementeras del Valle have delisted.

Santos Brasil, which operates Latin America’s largest container terminal at Santos, São Paulo state, is to float its stock on Bovespa in the next few weeks. The share sale will comprise 36.67 million shares, including 33 million via a primary offering and 3.67 million via a secondary offering. The shares will be sold locally and abroad to qualified US investors in the form of GDRs. Credit Suisse and Unibanco are coordinating the deal. Shares of Santos are currently listed on the over-the-counter market Soma.

Chile’s largest systems information provider, Sonda, has set a date of the first half of November for its listing on the Santiago Stock Exchange. This would be the first time a local technology company has listed its stock and would be only the third local company in the sector in any Latin American market to go public. Sonda says it is planning to issue 200 million shares, representing 26% of its stock. Analysts estimate it could raise up to $100 million via the flotation. The company is looking to court foreign investors with a roadshow due to kick off next month. In the long term, it may consider listing in New York or São Paulo. The company, which is headquartered in Chile, has operations in nine other Latin American markets including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Sonda has, to date, expanded via acquisitions, most recently buying up the technical support and services division of Mexican company Qualita.