EQUITY: VisaNet Draws Global Buyers
Jul 1, 2009
A flurry of offerings that could be worth upwards of 12 billion reais has gripped Brazil, whose stock market rose 40% in the first five months. Increasingly liquid dedicated investors stand ready to jump back into new issues provided they are large and liquid. Even Mexico and Chile are starting to see signs of life.
As LatinFinance went to press, buysiders were poring over VisaNet’s IPO prospectus in anticipation of a June 25 pricing. The up to 9.7 billion reais deal is LatAm’s first major IPO since Mexico’s Genomma went public in mid-June 2008, raising $224 million. Size and brand name were driving significant interest from a variety of investors.
“This has gone from being a LatAm deal to being a global one,” says Todd McClone, co-portfolio manager at William Blair & Co. The buysider, who helps oversee two EM funds totaling $1.6 billion, says that aside from dedicated LatAm, large US domestic accounts familiar with Visa and Mastercard are expressing interest, and may end up taking a substantial portion of the deal.
Buzz surrounding VisaNet may also be boosting shares of listed competitor Redecard, says McClone, whose fund is the eleventh largest shareholder in the...
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