Apax, shareholders to list Brazil's Tivit as IPO list grows

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Brad Haynes SAO PAULO (Reuters) - British buyout firm Apax Partners LLP and a number of Brazilian investors plan to list information technology services provider Tivit Terceirização de Processos, Serviços e Tecnologia SA on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, adding to the longest list of domestic initial public offerings in four years. In a Tuesday filing with securities industry watchdog CVM, Apax and investors led by Tivit Chief Executive Officer Luiz Roberto Mattar asked for regulatory permission to sell an unspecified number of shares in the IPO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move comes only a few months after Tivit spun off a division dealing with automated client services to accelerate a strategic shift towards more profitable information technology, cloud and digital business solutions. Proceeds from the so-called secondary offering will go to the coffers of Apax, Mattar and another nine shareholders, the filing said. The announcement took a tally of potential Brazilian IPOs this year to eight, the strongest since 2013's 10 listings, Thomson Reuters data showed. Expected transactions include the IPOs of Carrefour SA's local unit , brokerage XP Investimentos SA and renewable power firm Omega Energia SA, people familiar with the plans told Reuters. Extending Brazil's existing IPO window will hinge on President Michel Temer's ability to push ahead with pension and labor code reforms that help lower the country's risk perception, bankers said. First listed in September 2009, Tivit remained public only until mid-2010, when Apax led a buyout of then-controlling shareholders Votorantim Novos Negocios and Pátria Investimentos Ltda. A management team led by Mattar, who had a significant stake in the business at the time, was retained as part of Apax's $600 million (£467 million) buyout of Tivit. Tivit, which operates in Brazil and six more Latin American countries, hired the investment banking unit of Credit Suisse Group AG to lead the transaction, with Itaú BBA SA, Banco Bradesco BBI, JPMorgan Chase & CO, Grupo BTG Pactual SA and Banco Santander Brasil SA acting as underwriters. (Additional reporting by Aluísio Alves in São Paulo; Editing by Sandra Maler)