Retailer Le Biscuit Is Said to Plan $267 Million Brazil IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian home-appliances retailer Lojas Le Biscuit SA is planning an initial public offering this year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Feira de Santana, Bahia-based company is weighing a listing on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. The transaction could raise about 1.5 billion reais ($267 million), according to one of the people. The discussions are ongoing and the company’s plans could still change, the people said.

The firm hired XP Investimentos to help with the deal, the people said. Bank of America, Itau BBA, Citibank and Santander are part of the sales team, according to one of the people.

Le Biscuit, Bank of America, Itau BBA, Santander and XP declined to comment. Citi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vinci Capital Partners, a Brazilian asset-management and private equity firm, holds a 45.4% stake in the firm, according to a 2019 earnings filing. Le Biscuit was founded in 1968 and has more than 120 stores across 14 Brazilian states, according to its website, with 769.9 million reais in net operational revenues in 2019 and 13.1 million reais in profits.

Brazilian companies raised 25.5 billion reais in IPOs over the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 10 firms have announced plans to go public in the past two weeks, from builders to supermarket chains and pet retailers.

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