LatinFinance - March/April 2016 - 12

NEWS
EQUITY/M&A

Only a single new equity issue has priced in the first few months of 2016
and bankers see no offerings on the immediate horizon. But mergers &
acquisitions could spur some transactions. By Aaron Weinman

Slow start
Mexican homebuilder Javer
in January raised 1.8 billion
Mexican pesos ($101 million),
selling 94.9 million shares
via its initial public offering,
marking Latin America's only
new equity issue in the first two
months of 2016.
While no new issuances
are expected for the rest of
the first quarter, owing to
emerging market volatility
and a dearth of new offerings
from the US market, Mexico
is expected to lead issuances
out of Latin America this year.
This depends on the success
of the upcoming Fibra-E trust
structure, equities bankers
in Mexico say. State-owned
Pemex and Comisión Federal
de Electricidad are expected
to issue Fibra-E trusts before
the end of this year.
Brazilian drugstore chain
Brasil Pharma in early
February raised 400 million
reais ($97.6 million) through
a rule 476 restricted followon offering. BTG Pactual was
the only investor on the deal,
buying 106 million new shares
for 3.78 reais each. Investor
appetite was expected to be
weak, due to the company's
overall debt levels.
Smaller-sized block trades
and 476 restricted follow-on
offerings will make up the bulk
of Brazil's 2016 pipeline, an
equities syndicate banker in
São Paulo says. Port operator
Rumo Logistica could raise
up to 2 billion reais in a capital
increase via a 476 follow-on

offering in March, he adds.
Banco do Brasil, Bradesco,
HSBC and Itaú BBA are said to
be coordinating the deal.

Re-Energizing

Petrobras is conducting an
"aggressive sale" of its regional
natural gas pipeline division
Nova Transportadora do
Sudeste, two M&A sources say.
State-owned Petrobras is due
to receive its next round of
bids in March and interested
bidders include Canadian asset
manager Brookfield and French
electric utilities company
Engie, a sell-side advisor says.
The company, however,
struggled to find a buyer
for its fuel distributor BR
Distribuidora, a second M&A
banker says. Petrobras is said
to have cancelled a potential
sale of BR Distribuidora due to a
lack of interest.
In Mexico, US private
equity firm KKR is eyeing
the loan market to finance
the acquisition of assets from
Pemex. Crédit Agricole met
with banks in New York in
late February to discuss loan
terms. A loan would be backed
by a sale-leaseback deal with
Pemex.
US power generator Duke
Energy in early February
hired Credit Suisse and
JPMorgan to advise on the
sale of its hydroelectric
facilities in Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Peru, sources
say.

12 L ATINFINA NCE.COM - March/April 2016

M&A rank by volume, year to February 29
Tie for top slot

Rank

Advisor

1
1
3
4
5
6
6
8
9
10

Credit Suisse
BBVA
Goldman Sachs
BTG Pactual
Nomura
Rothschild
Lazard
Citi
Itaú BBA
BR Partners
Total

Value ($m)

# Deals

3,015
3,015
1,694
1,611
1,439
1,341
1,341
1,036
443
165

1
2
2
6
1
1
1
1
6
3

13,455

172

Source: Dealogic

Brookfield bought the
Colombian government's
57.6% stake in electricity
generator Isagen for 6.49
trillion Colombian pesos ($1.98
billion) in January, the largest
agreement in the region so far
this year. Brookfield bid the
minimum asking price of 4,130
Colombian pesos per share after
the only other bidder, Chilean
utilities firm Colbún, exited the
bidding process two days before
the auction.

Paring down

Brazilian lender BTG Pactual
agreed to sell its Swiss-based
private lender BSI to Zurich-

For daily updates on
loans market, visit:
latinfinance.com

based private bank EFG
International for up to 1.6
billion Swiss francs ($1.62
billion). BTG will receive one
billion Swiss francs in cash and
retain a 20% to 30% stake in
BSI after the deal closes.
BTG in January commenced
talks to sell its stake in
insurance company Pan
Seguros and brokerage firm
Pan Corretora. BTG is said
to have approached French
insurer CNP Assurances
about the sales. BTG owns
51% of Pan Seguros and Pan
Corretora, which it acquired
from local lender Banco Pan in
2014. LF

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on Latin America's equity and M&A
markets, see www.latinfinance.com/
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - March/April 2016
