Arcos FO Seen as Soon as Today

Arcos Dorados’ $1bn follow-on could price as soon as today, investors say, with indications that the book was at least half covered by Tuesday afternoon. No official pricing date had been set as of Tuesday afternoon, and the issuer has been scheduling meeting for today. Arcos’ private equity investors plan to sell 40.4m secondary shares, which would raise $1.05bn at Monday’s $23.67 close if a 10% greenshoe is included. “This is of course a great story, but we’ll see if the timing [of the sale] turns out to be good,” says a US-based equity investor following the transaction. The sellers are private equity funds linked to DLJ, Capital International and Gavea, which bought McDonald’s LatAm operations along with Arcos controller Woods Staton in 2007. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Citi, Itau, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are managing the deal.