Mexican Microfinance Bank Compartamos Makes Stock Market Debut
Randewich, N.

Shares of Mexican microfinance bank Compartamos surged as much as 34% in their US$407 million stock market debut on Friday. Owners of Banco Compartamos, which means "let's share" in Spanish, sold about 30% of the bank, spokeswoman Luisa del Castillo told Reuters.

More than 80% of the offer was placed in New York, with the rest on Mexico's stock exchange, according to a company release. Mexican shares of Compartamos jumped as high as 53.53 pesos (approx US$4.8) after the company priced the offer at 40 pesos (approx US$3.5) per share. In afternoon trading the stock eased back slightly to 52 pesos (approx US$4.7).

Compartamos said it sold 111,572,532 shares, with an over allotment provision of 16,735,880 shares. It was unclear whether banks managing the offer exercised the over allotment, worth about US$61 million. "We have clients who work in food, clothing, shoes and crafts. They're people with anything from a super-small business up to a corner store", said Castillo.

Despite lending to customers with little credit history or collateral, Compartamos has kept past-due loans below 1% of its portfolio. "The offer received a lot of demand from institutional and retail investors. This is a one-of-a-kind story in the market today, which is why there is so much interest", said one banker associated with the offer.

To read the complete article, please click here.

Read Full Article

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Partners  |  Help  |  Site Map  |  Terms and Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions

© CGAP 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED