Advent Scraps Meal IPO Plans

International Meal Company (IMC), the pan-Latin restaurant chain owner, has given up on pricing a BRL800m+ IPO. Following a postponement of a float mid-December, the company has issued a statement formally withdrawing its bid to issue shares. “The company wouldn’t have come back in this kind market,” says an executive close to the process. Observers on and off the trade thought IMC had pushed its luck by trying to squeeze in the planned BRL830m offering so close to Christmas. The company might have succeeded in pricing last month, says one sellsider watching the process, though there is little chance a deal could have come in the past 3 soft market sessions, he adds. IMC joins Metalfrio and M. Dias Branco in opting to shelve issuance plans. Credit Suisse, Itau BBA, Santander and Bradesco BBI were slated to lead IMC.