Chilean Builds Equity Debut

Chile’s Echeverria Izquierdo has priced a CLP42.36bn ($87.5m) IPO, the country’s fourth IPO this year and the third within the past month. The construction and engineering firm is selling 151.3m shares at CLP280 each, according to the issuer. The price comes below most analysts expectations and below the pre-set CLP320 minimum, which an issuer is allowed to waive in Chilean equity sales. The deal falls short of a $100m-equivalent target, by about the same margin as other recent IPOs from grower Hortifrut and health insurance provider Inversiones La Construccion missed their expectations. However, optimists point to the ability to get deals done in the local market without a need to rely on foreign investors. About half of the sale went to local institutions, 18% to local retail and the remainder to other local buyers. Total demand reached CLP99.31bn, according to the issuer. With 34 years in operation, the builder is mainly in Chile and Peru, with a small presence in Argentina, and has set up operations this year in Brazil and Colombia. As of December, 49% of its projects were in construction and civil engineering, 44% in industrial construction and 7% in real estate. It began meeting investors in Chile and Peru last month. IMTrust managed the sale, seen as the region’s last public market equity sale before the September-October period.