Abril Follow-on Prices at Narrow Discount

Abril Educacao has priced a BRL585m ($290m) follow-on, giving up only a 1.9% discount. The educational arm of the Grupo Abril media conglomerate is selling 3.1m primary units and 9.9m secondary units at BRL45.00 each, according to the CVM. The total includes a 15% greenshoe. Pricing came close to Wednesday’s BRL45.88 closing price. The transaction was oversubscribed, according to people following it. The for-profit education sector is one of the consumer growth plays on which investors remain optimistic, with room for large players to expand. Abril, active in education and educational publishing, plans to use the primary proceeds to make acquisitions. The secondary shares in the deal are sold by members of the controlling Civita family and investment funds managed by BR Investimentos and Banif. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BTG Pactual, Bradesco, Credit Suisse and Itau managed the deal. Today the heavy week of new ECM issuance caps off with the IPO carve-outs of Banco do Brasil’s BB Seguridade insurance business and Gol’s Smiles mileage loyalty program.