Saturday, April 08, 2017

Azul Raises More Than $570 Million in Initial Public Offering: Company’s shares to begin trading in United States and Brazil Tuesday morning



The Wall Street Journal
By Luciana Magalhaes
April 11, 2017 6:32 a.m. ET


SÃO PAULO— Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras SA, Brazil’s third-largest airline by passengers, said it raised $571.2 million in an initial public share offering Monday in Brazil and in the U.S., and will begin trading Tuesday morning.

Azul sold 85.4 million preferred shares for 21 reais each and ADSs for $20.06. Shares will trade on Brazil’s B3 stock exchange, until recently known as the BM&FBovespa, and on the New York Stock Exchange.

The budget airline was quickly able to reverse the sale’s suspension last Thursday by Brazil’s financial market regulator, just as banks leading the IPO were setting the price for the shares.

The market regulator, known as CVM, cited an irregular release of information related to the offering as the reason for the suspension, and asked for a correction for those problems. The CVM didn’t provide details on the released information.

Azul said on its investors relations site Friday that it took the requested measures to proceed with the equity sale, without giving specific details.

The airline, which saw three previous efforts to sell shares to the public sink due to economic and political problems in Brazil, said in regulatory filings that had  it expected to sell as many as 72 million preferred shares, for up to 23 reais ($7.32) each in Brazil and  as much $21.81 a unit in the U.S.

Founded in 2008 by businessman David Neeleman —who also created U.S. discount carrier JetBlue Airways Corp. —Azul said in the documents that it plans to use the net proceeds of the sale to repay indebtedness of approximately 315 million reais and the rest for general corporate purposes.

The company has applied for the shares to trade on the B3 stock exchange in Brazil, which recently changed its name from BM&FBovespa, under the symbol “AZUL4,” and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZUL.”

Original article can be found here:  https://www.wsj.com



Brazil Financial Markets Regulator Suspends Azul Initial Public Offering Over Irregularities: Low-cost airline has been seeking to raise more than $500 million in an initial public offering in Brazil and the United States



By Luciana Magalhaes
Updated April 6, 2017 6:49 p.m. ET

SÃO PAULO—Brazil’s market regulator on Thursday suspended the initial public offering of Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras SA, alleging the airline broke rules regarding the release of information.

Azul, Brazil’s third-largest airline by passengers, aimed to raise more than $500 million in the IPO in Brazil and in the U.S., which was set to be priced Thursday night.

But the process was suspended after the regulator, known as the CVM, said in a note that irregular advertising material was used during presentations to investors and confidential information related to demand and pricing of shares was released to the media.

The suspension will last for up to 30 days if the “irregularities” are corrected, the regulator said. Otherwise the sale won’t be allowed to proceed. The CVM didn’t immediately explain what measures would be needed to permit the sale to go forward.

Azul, created in 2008 by businessman David Neeleman, who also founded U.S. discount carrier JetBlue Airways Corp. , declined to comment on the suspension of its IPO.

The budget airline already had seen three previous efforts to sell shares to the public sink due to economic and political problems in Brazil since 2013.

It expected to sell as many as 72 million preferred shares, for up to 23 reais ($7.37) each in Brazil and as much $21.81 a unit in the U.S., this week.

The company had applied for the shares to trade on the B3 stock exchange in Brazil, which recently changed its name from BM&FBovespa, under the symbol “AZUL4” and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZUL.”

Original article can be found here:  https://www.wsj.com

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