Brazil's BR Malls plans $536 mln offering, source says

Banco Bradesco

05/05/2017 22:18

By Tatiana Bautzer 
    SAO PAULO, May 5 (Reuters) - BR Malls Participações, 
Brazil's largest mall operator, has hired banks to sell 1.7 
billion reais ($536 million) worth of new shares in an offering 
as early as next week, a person with direct knowledge of the 
matter said on Friday. 
    Rio de Janeiro-based BR Malls has hired the 
investment-banking units of Banco Bradesco SA  BBDC4.SA , Itaú 
Unibanco Holding SA  ITUB4.SA , JPMorgan Chase & Co  JPM.N , 
Banco Santander Brasil SA  SANB11.SA  and Morgan Stanley & Co 
 MS.N  to underwrite the so-called restricted-efforts offering, 
which is limited to qualified investors, said the person. 
    BR Malls declined to comment. The banks did not have an 
immediate comment on the primary offering in which all proceeds 
from the transaction go to the company's coffers.  
    The person asked to remain anonymous, because the 
transaction remains private. 
    The move comes as several mall companies raise cash to buy 
cash-strapped rivals or undertake new projects as domestic 
borrowing costs approach single-digits levels. Commercial real 
estate firms benefit from lower interest rates, which make their 
projects and investments more profitable over time. 
    More than 10 billion reais have been raised through stock 
sales in Brazil this year, making this the best start for 
domestic equity offerings for any year since 2013. Government 
efforts to rebalance fiscal accounts are drawing money back into 
Brazil, even though the country is struggling with a recession 
that is entering a third year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1F60K9 
    Public offerings with restricted efforts differ from 
standard equity offerings in that a company does not have to 
request registration of the plan with securities industry 
watchdog CVM. Only qualified investors can participate in such 
offerings, and the deals cannot be marketed through road shows 
or the media. 
    Common shares rose 5.6 percent to 12.67 reais on Friday, 
extending this year's gains to 22 percent. 
    The financial news service of O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper 
reported the news earlier in the day.  
    ($1 = 3.1740 reais) 
 
 (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Additional reporting by Alberto 
Alerigi Jr and Paula Arend Laier in São Paulo; Editing by 
Guillermo Parra-Bernal) 
 ((tatiana.bautzer@tr.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7756; Mob: 
+55-119-4210-4173; Reuters Messaging: 
tatiana.bautzer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BR MALLS NEWISSUES/