Anhanguera Issues FO Shares Amid Weakness

Brazilian educational company Anhanguera Educacional has issued 29.00m units at BRL22.50, a 1.7% discount to the last trade before pricing of BRL22.90. The BRL653m deal, which was filed on November 25 was done quickly and without hiccups, say bankers on it. However, in the 5 sessions leading up to pricing, the shares fell 8.4%, underperforming the Bovespa, which dropped 1.0% in the same period. Each unit is comprised of 6 preferred shares and 1 common share, which allow the company to raise capital while adhering to the Brazilian law that prohibits foreigners from owning a majority stake in domestic education companies. Underwriters will look to trade into the market an additional 4.35m unit greenshoe in the coming sessions, which could bring the total proceeds to BRL750m. All of the proceeds from the sale will go to selling family members of the controlling and founding family. The deal was led by BofA-Merrill and Itau BBA with Santander and Credit Suisse as joint bookrunners. Still in the equity pipeline are Fleury, the diagnostics lab, and IMC, the restaurant holdco held by Advent. The 2 are slated to price on December 15 and 17, respectively.