Aliansce Shares See Strong Bid

Brazil’s Aliansce has priced a BRL448m ($216m) equity follow-on, coming at a 2.5% discount. What should be the last marketed Brazilian equity deal of 2012 was heard more than 4x subscribed, putting a positive, if small, ending note on a disappointing year for Brazilian issuers. The shopping center operator sold 19.3m primary shares, including a 15% greenshoe, at BRL23.25 each, according to the CVM. The level compares to Wednesday’s BRL23.85 closing price. The deal was aided by the stock trading up 1.4% in Wednesday’s session. About 60% of the deal was expected to go to Brazilian buyers, according to people familiar with the sale. Aliansce is raising funds to acquire, develop and expand shopping malls, and had set itself a BRL500m target when announcing the transaction in October. “Aliansce’s expansion process has been going well and been delivering positive results. There is still space for the consolidation in the sector, as well as for new projects,” Mauricio Kojo, analyst at UM Investimentos in Sao Paulo, tells LatinFinance. As the issuer has been making prudent investments with its funds, his shop sees the additional equity capital as a positive move. Bradesco, BTG Pactual, Credit Suisse and Itau managed the sale. Brazilian issuers have placed $8.67bn-equivalent through 27 deals this year, according to Dealogic data, compared to a full-year total of $14.63bn from 33 in 2011. Issuance from the country represents 35% of the regional total to date this year, down from 42% last year. Bankers are optimistic that volume can rebound next year, and are counting on investors looking at Brazil with a fresh eye after valuations have largely come down. “Only the banks that are well-positioned across the region have made money this year. ECM was clearly slower in Brazil, but there was also a lot more diversity. While we expect other countries to continue issuing, Brazil is going to have a higher stake next year relative to this year,” says a Sao Paulo-based ECM banker. So fa