By Rogerio Jelmayer
SAO PAULO--Brazilian telecommunication-tower operator T4U
Holding Brasil SA is planning an initial public offering, which
could be the country's first IPO this year, facing a challenging
environment in the equity markets.
The company, which is controlled by Israel-based Fishman Group,
didn't disclose the number of shares to be sold nor the exact
timetable to hold the IPO.
It hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Itau BBA, UBS and
Citibank to coordinate the sale of shares.
In the first half of this year, the company posted net revenue
of 36 million Brazilian reais ($15.78 million) and a net profit of
BRL19 million, according to the preliminary prospectus of the
operation. Its main clients in Brazil are the largest mobile-phone
companies in the country.
The shares will be sold via a primary and a secondary offer. The
undisclosed amount to be raised from the primary offer will be used
for investment in company operations and also in potential
acquisitions, it said in the prospectus.
The IPO plans come amid an increased interest in
telecommunication-tower companies in Brazil, such as American Tower
Corp., which earlier this year acquired mobile-phone infrastructure
company BR Towers SA. Meanwhile, mobile-phone companies have
divested themselves of towers to focus on investments in their core
business.
Brazil has 275 million mobile-phones under use, more than the
country's nearly 200 million population, and the main companies
operating here are the Telefonica Brasil SA (VIV, VIVT4.BR), the
local unit of Spain's Telfonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC); TIM Participacoes
(TSU, TIMP3.BR), the local unit of Telecom Italia SpA (TI, TIA,
TIT.MI); Claro, the local unit of Mexico's America Movil SAB (AMOV,
AMX, AMX.MX); and Oi SA (OIBR, OIBR4.BR).
T4U's IPO plans came amid a challenging environment for
companies in Brazil.
After two years of relatively lackluster performance,
share-offer activity totaled BRL23.89 billion last year, up from
BRL14.3 billion in 2012, according to the Association of Financial
and Capital Market Institutions, or Anbima.
The share-offer volume last year was fueled by a significant
offer in April of BRL11.5 billion from Brazilian
pension-and-insurance company BB Seguridade Participacoes SA
(BBSE3.BR), which was the world's largest IPO in 2013.
Since then, some companies have pulled IPO plans because of
adverse market conditions, including airline Azul Linhas Aereas and
cement producer Votorantim Cimentos SA. So far this year, Brazilian
companies haven't put forward an IPO, the first such year since
2004.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com
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