Category: Equity

Bahamas-based GP Investimentos, Latin America’s largest asset manager, is planning a public offering of shares on Bovespa. The firm is planning to float its stock via Brazilian depositary receipts (BDRs) and hopes to raise $300 million. The IPO is being coordinated by Credit Suisse. GP Investimentos specializes in the management of long- and short-term alternative asset investment funds.

Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, began to list its shares on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange yesterday, Thursday. The company said it would not be issuing any new shares but rather offer those already in the circulation. Petrobras will be the first foreign company to seek a listing in Argentina since the country’s financial meltdown in 2001 and will offer locals the opportunity to invest directly in the Brazilian company.

Abnote, the Brazilian subsidiary of US printing and document management company American Banknote, has raised $225.8 million from its IPO on the Novo Mercado of the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The company sold 28.26 million of common shares at a price of 17 reais per share, at the top end of the price range the company had estimated. The sale was arranged by Credit Suisse and UBS.

Brazilian manufacturer Lupatech is to float its stock on the Novo Mercado segment of the São Paulo Stock Exchange on May 15. The IPO will comprise 16,263 million common shares, 5,421 million of which will be sold via a primary offering and 10,842 million via a secondary offering. The shares will be sold in Brazil and also in the US under rule 144A. The sale is being arranged by Merrill Lynch and Banco Pactual.

The World Bank and the IMF have formally approved the HIPC debt forgiveness initiative which will see Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua benefit from a total of $2.88 billion of debt forgiveness. The approval came at the weekend during the World Bank-IMF Spring meeting in Washington, DC. Fourteen other developing nations worldwide will also benefit from the program which was proposed by the World Bank and IMF and agreed by governments around the world in the fall of 1996. However, the World Bank also issued a warning to developing nations not to fall into the same cycle of debt.

Brazilian agribusiness Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agricolas (Brasilagro) is set to float its stock on the São Paulo Stock Exchange at the beginning of May with a primary offering of 432,000 common shares. The shares will be listed on the Novo Mercado section of the exchange, which has more rigorous reporting requirements. Brasilagro will sell the shares to local investors and qualified US investors under Rule 144a. The underwriter for the offer is Credit Suisse.

Brazilian manufacturer Duratex has raised $260 million via a share offering on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The company sold a total of 12.761 million shares, comprising 4.5 million common shares through a primary offering and 8.261 million preferred shares in a secondary offering. Shares were valued at 43.50 reales each and were sold to investors in Brazil and to qualified investors in the US under Rule 144a. Duratex, owned by Itaúsa Group, manufactures wood products, sanitary vitreous chinaware and metal fittings aimed at the furniture industry and the civil construction sectors.

Grupo Abril, Brazil’s largest publishing and print group, is to float its stock on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The family-owned company sold a 13.8% stake two years ago to US investment fund Capital Group for $50 million as part of a larger restructuring of the media group, which has been ongoing since 2003. Grupo Abril publishes seven out of 10 of the country’s most popular magazines, including Veja – one of the world’s best-selling weekly publications. Its wider media interests include a 70% stake in MTV Brasil.

Brazil state-owned oil producer Petrobras is to make a public offering of its shares via the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, probably in the last week of March. It will be the first foreign company to seek a local listing on the exchange since the country’s financial meltdown in 2001. According to Petrobras, it has been seeking to issue shares since it acquired local energy company Perez Companc in August 2002. Further details of the offering are due to be published on Friday.

Meantime, the delayed sale of Colombian state-owned gas distributor Empresa Colombiana de Gas (Ecogás) finally got underway yesterday, Monday, with the publication of details of the IPO on offer to Ecogás-affiliated workers and pensioners. The IPO comprises 75 million shares of the newly formed Transportadora de Gas del Interior (TGI) on offer at a price of 10,000 pesos per share. A second tranche of shares will be offered to the public if any remain after the IPO. The sale of Ecogás will bring to an end the involvement of the government in the natural gas industry.