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SAO PAULO/TORONTO, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Brazil-based mining company Votorantim Metais Holding SA filed on Thursday for an initial public offering in New York and Toronto, to tap into a wide base of investors betting on a long-term recovery in zinc, copper, lead and silver prices.
Parent holding company Votorantim SA, Brazil’s largest diversified industrial group, is selling an undisclosed stake in the cross-border listing of VM Holding SA, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. VM Holding will be renamed as Nexa Resources SA and be domiciled in Luxembourg, the filing said.
Other terms of the IPO, including size or a suggested price tag range, were not unveiled in the filing.
Reuters first reported the plan on April 10, and said on July 12 that the base metals producer – which mines for zinc, copper and lead in Brazil and Peru – was planning a $750 million offering valuing the company at $4 billion.
People familiar with the transaction told Reuters at the time that parent holding company Votorantim will use proceeds from the miner known as VMH to invest in other, high-return business areas. The IPO could take place between September and December, the people said at the time.
The IPO should help Votorantim Chief Executive Officer João Miranda, who has spearheaded rapid growth in VMH despite volatility in metal prices, to cut the group’s debt of about 15 billion reais ($4.8 billion).
Votorantim and VMH hired the investment-banking units of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG, BMO Financial Group, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, Bank of Nova Scotia, Banco Bradesco SA and Credicorp Ltd.
With a presence in Brazil and Peru, where it holds a majority stake in Cia Minera Milpo SA, VMH operates five industrial compounds in Brazil’s state of Minas Gerais, and in Cajamarquilla in Peru. VMH also has sales offices in Houston and Luxembourg.
($1 = 3.1423 reais)
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in Sao Paulo and John Tilak in Toronto; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Lisa Shumaker)
