Paraguayan IPO Plan is Off

Dahava Petroleos is no longer on track to hold an IPO in Paraguay, what would have been a rare Paraguayan equity transaction. Paraguay’s CNV regulators denied Dahava Petroleos’ registration in January, according to CNV documents seen by LatinFinance, and officials say there has been no resolution since. Dahava claimed to have ownership of various oil concession assets in its filing, but was unable to meet officials’ requests for additional information to confirm their valuations and prove they should be counted as part of the listed entity. The issuer did not provide suitable proof of ownership of certain concession assets, the documents show. This included a concession held by CDS Energy, claimed to be worth more than $100m, for which the license had expired. Dahava spokespeople did not return requests for comment. In July, Dahava announced discussions with an “international oil company” to acquire 100% of Dahava, but has not provided an update since. Dahava had been looking to raise $100m in the IPO for an oil and gas drilling program in the Chaco basin in northern Paraguay. Paraguayan brokerage Valores, part of the Andorra-based Credit Andorra Group, had been managing the sale.