Category: Equity

Stock and bond prices climbed after the government repaid $9.5 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund, severing links with the organization that the government blames for the country’s financial collapse in 2001-2002. The Buenos Aires Stock Market’s Merval index rose 2.97%. Restructured peso bonds with GDP warrants rose 2.46%. The Central bank intervened in the foreign exchange markets to keep the peso stable, buying $51 million for its reserves, which rose to $18.58 billion after the IMF payment.

Brazilian realty firm Company SA is planning a public offering of shares on Bovespa’s Novo Mercado. The company is hoping to raise around 200 million reais ($85 million) through floating 40% of the company’s stock.

Panamanian airline Copa Holdings has debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, exceeding expectations to achieve a price of $20 per share. The shares had originally been forecast to sell at between $15 and $17 per share. The 15.8 million shares sold, mainly by shareholders Cia. de Inversiones Aereas SA y Continental Airlines Inc., raised $315 million.

Accountant Jorge Weskamp has been elected the new president of the Rosario Stock Exchange in Argentina. He will take over the position from outgoing president Federico Boglione and will serve for two years.

Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has increased its weighting in the benchmark Bovespa index from 7.34% to 8.97% and is now only barely 1 percentage point off the index leader Tele Norte Leste Participações SA (Telemar), whose weighting dropped from 9.31% to 8.33%. The revised stock weightings were announced yesterday, Thursday, and will take effect on 2 January. The index is rebalanced every four months.

Peruvian energy provider Enersur, an affiliate of French group Suez, has raised $77 million via a stock floatation on the local exchange. The IPO saw shares sold at 7.6 soles ($2.24) per share and represented just over 17% of the company’s capital.

Inversiones Aguas Metropolitanas (IAM), Chile’s largest drinking water supplier, has issued Chile’s largest IPO to date, with 80% of the total offering taken up by international investors. The company, which is an affiliate of Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar), raised $91.8 million in the local market and $306 million internationally as ADRs. UBS Investment Bank acted as sole global coordinator and sole international bookrunner. The local tranche was arranged by Celfin Capital, Banchile and Santander Investment.

Brazilian sugar producer Cosan has raised 770 million reais ($350 million) in its IPO, exceeding expectations. Cosan achieved a share price of 48 reais per share, above the 40-46 reais originally expected. The company, the world’s second-largest sugar producer, plans to use the funds raised for expansion and acquisition. The sale was arranged by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston.

The first securities certificate bringing together a group of stocks into one tradable unit began trading on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange yesterday, Thursday. The Macc (Merval Acciones) combines the top eight stocks on the Merval local index into one financial instrument.

Petroquímica Argentina SA (PASA) became the first company to inaugurate the new PyME board on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, to help small and medium-sized companies to raise money via the stock market. PASA hoped to raise around $3 million by listing between 15% and 20% of its capital. At least six firms with turnover of between 50 and 200 million pesos have so far signed letters of intent to list on the new board.