Bankers expect 2011 to be a busy year for Latin America’s equity markets. Last year was dominated by a relatively small number of big equity issuances, but predictions for 2011 are for a large number of smaller deals. Optimists believe this year might even surpass the 2007 high-water mark of 131 transactions.
However, the poor performance of some of those 2007 transactions and the rise of the Bovespa since then mean there will be much more scrutiny of IPO valuations and the growth prospects of the companies launching this year.
"Some investors suffered in the past equity wave, with several names underperforming the main indices and even some companies trading below the issue price," says Roberto Serwaczak, head of Citi Corretora, the US firm’s securities brokerage arm in Brazil. "This time people will not be so willing to just buy a growth story – there will be a...
