Uruguayan Advances IPO

Union Agriculture Group (UAG) planned to list its shares as soon as today, ahead of an IPO that is expected in 2-3 months. The farmland developer is undergoing the listing now for tax and regulatory reasons, according to people familiar with the matter, and has begun informal negotiations with investors and could see a roadshow in about two months, followed by pricing. The transaction is expected to raise at least $50m, by selling up to 2bn shares to the country’s pension funds and up to 200m shares to retail investors. It would be the country’s first IPO since 2006. UAG is raising funds for further land acquisitions, of about 35,000 hectares. There are no bookrunners attached to the deal. UAG targeted $200m in its abandoned 2011 SEC-registered IPO, led by JPMorgan and Credit Suisse. It has since raised more than $100m in equity capital through private transactions. A US-registered deal is not off the table and could be pursued later this year after the Montevideo sale, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. NZ Farming Systems Uruguay raised $82m-equivalent in a 2006 IPO, the last local Uruguayan deal, according to Dealogic data.