Source: Advent International
Advent International today announced that its portfolio company CSU CardSystem S.A., the leading independent provider of outsourced credit card administration services in Brazil, has raised R$341.0 million (US$161.3 million) in gross proceeds through the initial public offering of its common stock on the Novo Mercado of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, or BOVESPA.
The company offered 5,571,597 common shares, and selling shareholders, including funds managed by Advent International, offered 13,371,324 common shares at a price of R$18.00 per share. CSU and the selling shareholders issued the common shares to the public in Brazil, to certain qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A in the U.S., and to institutional and other investors outside the U.S. and Brazil.
The offering is the second recent IPO by one of Advent's Latin American portfolio companies. In December 2005, global travel retailer Dufry AG floated on the SWX Swiss Exchange. Additionally, TOTVS, the parent company of Brazilian software developer Microsiga, went public on the BOVESPA in March 2006. Advent was an investor in Microsiga until early 2005.
CSU will receive R$95.0 million in net proceeds from the IPO, which it will use to repay debt, invest in existing operating activities and for general corporate purposes. The company's common shares began trading today on the Novo Mercado under the symbol "CARD3."