Bids for Biotoscana Brazil IPO nearly five times supply, sources say
Investors have placed bids worth nearly five times the amount of shares put on sale at the midpoint of a suggested price range for the Brazilian listing of Grupo Biotoscana SA, three people with knowledge of the transaction told Reuters.
Biotoscana, a Colombia-based pharmaceutical company, is selling 40.5 million Brazilian depositary receipts (BDRs) at a suggested price range of 24.50 reais to 28.50 reais. The transaction is set to price after the market close on Friday.
The transaction underscores the solid demand for a rare regional play in the biotechnological sector. It caps the busiest week since mid-February for Brazilian equity offerings.
It could also spell good news for reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros SA and renewable power firm Omega Geracao SA, which are scheduled to list shares on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange in coming weeks.
Grupo Carrefour Brasil SA and shareholders on Tuesday placed 5.12 billion reais ($1.6 billion) worth of shares in Brazil’s largest initial public offering in four years, though the offering priced at the bottom end of a suggested range.
Investors have been wary of Brazilian IPOs because new issues have failed to deliver promised returns over the past decade. Less than one-third of the 115 IPOs priced since the start of 2007 yielded returns above Brazil’s interbank lending rate, according to Thomson Reuters data. ($1 = 3.1221 reais)
Source: timesofindia
