Equity House of the Year - Bank of America Merrill Lynch
January 17, 2018 | Aaron Weinman
US bank took the forefront of Latin America’s equity turnaround, capturing value for clients in several jurisdictions
Equity IPO Brazil Argentina Mexico
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) is no stranger to Latin America’s equity capital markets, having won Equity House of the Year three years in a row.
After riding out subpar years in the region, the US investment bank positioned itself to capitalize on gains that saw more IPOs price in 2017 than in the past three years combined.
The bank participated in IPOs for Brazilian healthcare companies Alliar and Instituto Hermes Pardini. It was also involved in IPOs for the state-owned reinsurance company IRB Brasil Re, energy company Omega Geração and food company Camil Alimentos. BAML was an underwriter for Carrefour Brasil, which won the award for IPO of the Year.
Outside Brazil, BAML took the lead in follow-on equity offerings for Argentine banks Supervielle, Banco Macro and Galicia.
BAML ended September’s league tables in second place, just behind JPMorgan, according to data from Dealogic. From October 2016 to the end of September this year, BAML had a 10.7% market share in Latin America’s equity capital markets, with 17 transactions worth $2.54 billion. Although JPMorgan racked up greater volume, BAML stood out with IPOs that have traded well after the initial offering.
In follow-on transactions, BAML’s launched deals at optimal times for its clients, including Argentina’s Banco Macro, which completed a $770 million share sale in June 2017, just before the MSCI dropped Argentina from its emerging market index.
In October, BAML finished offerings for Fibra Uno in Mexico, Argentine cement company Loma Negra, and Brazilian logistics firm Rumo. BAML was also in the market for four deals in December and at least two more in the first quarter of 2018. LF