Buenos Aires grain & meat giant El Tejar is backed by Capital Group Companies & Altima Partners

Buenos Aires grain & meat giant El Tejar is backed by Capital Group Companies & Altima Partners

More Buenos Aires IPO news this week on the heels of yesterday’s post regarding TGLT’s public offering ambitions. Bloomberg BusinessWeek is reporting that BA-based El Tejar is weighing an IPO in New York and taking the necessary steps to be in compliance whenever the mood strikes over the next three years. El Tejar CEO Oscar Alvarado told BBW, “We are preparing ourselves so that Brazil is not our only option, and the option exists of doing it in New York. We are preparing the company so as to be able to make the decision to go public whenever we decide.” With operations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, El Tejar designs and manages grain and meat production systems with an emphasis on risk management and environmental sustainability. (Org Chart) El Tejar’s annual production of grains and oilseeds  is roughly 3 million tons according to Bloomberg, and the company should benefit from record corn and soybean crops this year in both Argentina and Brazil.  While the company describes its focus and community involvement activities as “multilocal,” the company’s appeal to investors is definitely multinational. The two investment funds with the largest stakes in El Tejar are The Capital Group Companies and London-based Altima Partners LLP. (Bloomberg BusinessWeek article)

Will Telecom's valuation be enough to lure potential shareholders into the arena?

Step Right Up: Will Telecom's valuation be enough to lure potential shareholders into the arena?

It’s been twenty long years since the privatization of Argentina’s state-owned ENTel, four years since a massive $1.5 billion debt restructuring and two years since a highly publicized government investigation, but the future for Telecom Argentina shareholders still looks as volatile as its past. According to BusinessWeek, shares of Telecom’s ADRs (NYSE: TEO) have fallen 31% over the past two years “on concern President Kirchner will seize the nation’s second-largest telephone company or force Telecom Italia SpA, a main shareholder, to sell its stake at a below-market price.” With uncertainty comes opportunity and the lowest price/earnings ratio (5.81x ‘10 earnings) of a carrier in Latin America. For those fearful of entering the Big Top, BA-based Guido Bizzozero—the most accurate analyst covering Telecom—says “the circus surrounding the sale doesn’t affect the company’s numbers…the stock is still cheap.” Conversely, JP Morgan Chase analyst Brian Chase sees less upside considering the current valuation and higher country risk. Looking forward, Gerson Lehrman Group says “questions of antitrust will come up given the respective ownerships of (Telecom and Telefonica) in the formerly state-owned incumbents in Argentina.” While Telecom’s future remains uncertain, two related trends seem certain: fixed-line subscribers in Argentina will continue to decline and the number of VOIP providers and Skype users will continue to grow unabated.

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