Capital raising by the Latin American financial sector pushed its biggest post-pandemic value in the last quarter of 2021 with several high-profile offerings driving overall figures for the period, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows.
The total value raised by financial companies in the region — excluding the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands — through capital offerings reached $6.95 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. This is the highest figure recorded since the fourth quarter of 2019, which saw $11.02 billion in total transaction value. The number was also up from $2.60 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and $2.41 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Seventeen offerings were made in the period, about the average number of quarterly offerings for 2021 but still down from the quarterly average count in the previous two years.
A large chunk of the total value raised in the period was from equity raising, amounting to $5.05 billion. Brazil-based Nu Holdings Ltd.'s blockbuster U.S. IPO led the pack with $2.78 billion in total value raised. Founder and CEO David Vélez said Nubank, as the company is known, can use its large consumer base to boost the reach of potential partners in various industries, such as retail and healthcare.
Chile-based Itaú Corpbanca's follow-on offering drove $1.02 billion in total value. Part of the proceeds was used to acquire an additional 12.36% stake in Colombian unit Itaú CorpBanca Colombia SA.
A follow-on issue from Uruguay's DLocal Ltd. raised $890 million. The fintech company made its Nasdaq debut earlier in June 2021.
Meanwhile, debt offerings moved $1.91 billion in total transaction value in the fourth quarter, mostly buoyed by development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento's $1.00 billion nonconvertible note issuance.
The banking sector made $5.43 billion of the total offer value, its highest number posted in the past five quarters. Meanwhile, other nonbanking financial institutions raised $1.52 billion.
For 2021, capital raises in the region hit $17.40 billion in total transaction value through 72 offerings, compared to $16.26 billion in 2020 through 119 offerings and $25.64 billion in 2019 through 246 offerings.