Slim Joins in as Mexico ECM Deals Advance

Carols Slim plans to list the Grupo Sanborns retail unit and raise as much as $1bn, joining a growing list of Mexican ECM transactions, with Pepsi bottler Cultiba and real estate fund Fibra Uno likely to launch as soon as the middle of this week. Cultiba, formerly Grupo Embotelladoras Unidas, initiated investor pre-education last week and is expected to launch as soon as the middle of the week if conditions still appear favorable, according to people following the process. Though registered as a follow-on, Cultiba is setting a price range for the deal, being billed as a “re-IPO.” The issuer should raise about $500m-equivalent, via Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Banorte-Ixe, BBVA Bancomer, Credit Suisse, Inbursa and JPMorgan. Fibra Uno is also expected to launch its second follow-on this week, with Credit Suisse, Evercore and Santander managing. The real estate fund has raised $1bn-equivalent in its first two transactions. Meanwhile Grupo Carso has filed to carve out its retail assets into Grupo Sanborns, according to regulatory documents, in a deal likely targeting $700m-$1bn, according to ECM bankers. It is too early for the timing to be indicated. The company will include the iconic Sanborns stores, as well as other brands including Sears and Sacks Fifth Avenue, located almost entirely in Mexico, with locations also in El Salvador and Panama. The units turned in $244m in Ebitda during the first nine months of 2012, after $413m in all of 2011. Inbursa and Credit Suisse are global coordinators, with Citi, Morgan Stanley and Santander as bookrunners. With Brazilians also preparing deals, 2013 seems to be looking up for the ECM markets. “We could book more revenue in the first quarter than in all of 2012,” quips an ECM banker with deals in the pipeline. CorpBanca is to be first out of the gate, with a $150m SEC follow-on scheduled for Tuesday.