Latin America saw increased interest from many different types of acquirers in the past year as volatility elsewhere boosted the relative attractiveness of the region’s economic, legal and regulatory frameworks.
It didn’t hurt that rising values of commodities – especially soft commodities – also encouraged many leading global companies and investors to increase their Latin American exposure. Appreciating currencies also gave extra impetus to get deals done.
However, while curiosity surged, getting deals over the line wasn’t necessarily easy. Equity holders in Latin America understood the drivers of international appetite for regional companies and supply became problematic – leading many investors to seek acquisitions in the public markets.
However, BofA Securities under the regional leadership of Augusto Urmeneta, president for Latin America and head of Latin America investment banking, and Martin Sanchez, head of mergers and acquisitions Latin America, BofA put together an impressive array of transactions that span the region’s countries and industries.
Standout examples include its mandate as exclusive adviser to Ambipar Response and Ambipar Group in its merger with HPX Corp. The deal was the first Brazilian special purpose acquisition company transaction that included a private investment in public equity (Pipe) subscription by public market investors. BofA was also sole placement agent for the Pipe – an illustration of the team’s client-relationship focus following the company’s 2020 IPO, for which BofA was global coordinator.
Elsewhere in the region, the bank was exclusive adviser to Chile’s Hortifrut in its sale of a 49.9% stake to Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investments, the first take-private transaction in Chile that involved a third-party investor and was a much-watched deal given these types of transactions are being driven by reduced public markets across sectors.
Another marquee mandate for BofA last year was advising on Banco Inter’s Nasdaq listing
In Colombia, the bank demonstrated its defensive advisory capabilities when it acted as financial adviser to Colombia’s Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (Grupo Sura) after it was faced with multiple unsolicited tender offers for the group and its material investees, Grupos Nutresa and Grupo Argos. According to Grupo Sura’s bankers, it was the first such defensive advisory assignment in the Colombian capital markets in recent memory.
Another marquee mandate for BofA last year was advising on Banco Inter’s Nasdaq listing. The deal wasn’t particularly large at $240 million, but it was a complex transaction and it is always telling to see which investment banks other financial institutions mandate to manage their own business, as they are among the most sophisticated buyers of banking services.
M&A is the focus for the advisory award, but it is not the only activity in this area of investment banking. BofA also demonstrated its ability to be mandated by large companies in the region for equity capital markets, debt capital markets and other important transactions.
In ECM, the bank won a series of important block trade trades, as well as leading on the most important follow-on transactions. These included Eletrobras’ $5.9 billion offering in June 2022, with BofA the lead international global coordinator and stabilization agent on what was the second-largest equity offering from Brazil and the fourth-largest follow on in the global utility and energy sector on record.
