Los Grobo Readies Brazil Push

Argentine agricultural company Los Grobo is launching a major expansion of its business in Brazil that could result in an IPO in three years. “We want to establish a platform in Brazil. Once we develop that we would plan for a float of shares,” Alejandro Stengel, CEO of Los Grobo, tells LatinFinance. He adds that it is too early to say where his firm would list, but adds that the Bovespa is a very attractive option. To fund its Brazil push, Los Grobo has recently tapped Pactual Capital Partners (PCP), a Brazil-based asset manager run by former partners of Banco Pactual, for $100m in long term funds. The minority stake could also be accompanied by additional capital raising in short order, should the company find an attractive M&A opportunity. Los Grobo issued $20m in local Argentine bonds at the end of 2007 and could launch an additional $40m over the next several months, depending on market conditions. The company also has businesses in Paraguay and Uruguay.