Brazilian real-estate developer Tecnisa SA raised 791.3 million Brazilian reals ($371.5 million) from its initial public offering on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, or Bovespa, the company said in a statement late Tuesday.

Tecnisa sold 60.869 million common shares, 45.435 million through a primary offer and 15.434 million via a secondary offer.

The shares under the secondary were held by the Tecnisa’s shareholder Meyer Joseph Nigri, one of the founders of the company and currently Tecnisa’s President.

The shares were priced at BRL13.00. The price was in line with company estimates of between BRL11.00 and BRL14.00. Trading is expected to begin Feb. 1, the company said.

Tecnisa sold its shares in Brazil and also to foreign investors in the form of American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs.

Credit Suisse Group (CS) was the lead coordinator of the operation.

The company will list its shares under the Novo Mercado mechanism, which has the most rigorous corporate governance rules on the Bovespa. To qualify, a company must sell a minimum stake of 25%, and 100% of the company’s shares must be common, rather than preferred, shares.

The continued decline in Brazil’s benchmark Selic base interest rate has prompted a wave of share offerings among local real estate companies.

Currently, the Selic rate stands at 13%. The central bank, which has trimmed the Selic rate at its past 13 meetings, is expected to reduce the rate to 11.75% by the end of 2007, according to a survey of market participants.

The first three IPOs on the Bovespa, in 2007 were all real estate companies, which raised a combined total of BRL1.54 billion.

On January 26, real estate investment company Pactual Desenvolvimento e Gestao Realty (PDGR3.BR), or PDG, completed the first Brazilian IPO of 2007, raising BRL630 million by selling 45 million common shares.

Later Wednesday, developer Camargo Correa Desenvolvimento Imobiliario SA ( CCIM3.BR) and Rodobens Negocios Imobiliarios SA (RDNI3.BR) will debut on the local stock exchange. Camargo Correa raised BRL522 million from its IPO, while Rodobens earned BRL390 million.

Source: www.nasdaq.com

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