Pinfra Parks Equity Sale at Discount

Mexico’s Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura (Pinfra) has priced a MXP4.43bn ($349m) equity follow-on, coming at an 8.5% discount. The Mexican concession operator priced 70.4m shares, including the assumption of a 15% greenshoe, at MXP63.00 each, it says, versus Thursday’s MXP68.85 closing price. The shares closed down 2.21% at MXP67.33 Friday, on a day when the Bolsa gained 1.24%. Pinfra’s order book was 2x covered, according to bankers on the sale, with the main investor groups including LatAm-dedicated investors, global infrastructure investors and Mexico’s pension funds. About 51% of the sale went to international buyers, according to regulatory documents, up from the 42% expected pre-sale. About 70% of the shares sold in the deal were secondary shares held by members of the Penaloza family and various investment funds. The public float was to increase to 46.1% from 29.5%, with controlling shareholders ending up with a 44.5% stake and funds linked to Grupo Bursatil Mexicano 9.4%. Proceeds from the primary portion are going toward general corporate purposes, including greenfield and brownfield construction. The sale also aimed to increase the liquidity of the issuer’s shares. Pinfra operates 13 road concessions, edging out ICA’s 12 to be the leader in Mexico, which account for 85% of revenue. Pinfra and the buyers in follow-on are betting it can win more greenfield and brownfield projects. It is difficult to define their chances before the new presidential administration enters, analysts say, but there is some degree of optimism given president-elect Pena Nieto’s track record while governor of the state of Mexico. Credit Suisse and JPMorgan managed the international portion, joined by Banorte-Ixe on the domestic side. Pinfra had filed earlier this year aiming for a sale in the June-July window, but decided to wait until 4Q. Founded in 1969 as Grupo Tribasa, Pinfra develops and operates road and port concessions and produces materials used in road constructio