Brazil exchange B3 sees over 100 IPOs in the works, only 'some' in 2024, says CEO

By Paula Laier

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian financial-exchange operator B3 sees more than 100 companies preparing for an initial public offering in the country, but only "some" of them will happen this year, B3 CEO Gilson Finkelsztain told journalists on Thursday.

He said IPOs should take place mostly in the second half of the year, and from companies in more "mature" sectors, including utilities and cement.

Investment bankers expect 2024 to end a more than two-year drought for IPOs in Brazil, after 27 launches in 2020 and 44 in 2021, which were boosted by historically lower interest rates around the globe.

"I'm more cautious on IPOs," Finkelsztain said at B3's office in Sao Paulo, adding that more public offers would depend on factors such as a higher trade flow and a single-digit interest rate. Brazil's benchmark Selic interest rate is now at 11.75%.

Finkelsztain said share offerings this year will likely lean more toward firms already listed.

Follow-on share offerings slightly accelerated in 2023, with more than 20 deals executed, including at firms such as power company Copel, meatpacker BRF and retailer Casas Bahia.

(Reporting by Paula Arend Laier; additional reporting and writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Kylie Madry and Leslie Adler)