Votorantim Cimentos, Brazil’s largest cement producer, suspended a multi-billion-dollar offering until Sept. 11 because of unfavorable market conditions. The IPO, which was scheduled for June 19, would have been the world’s second-largest this year, and was seen as a key test of investors’ perceptions of Brazil and the broader emerging markets.
According to NASDAQ, Brazilian stocks have traded poorly in recent months, the real has been weakening and on June 6, Standard & Poor’s changed its outlook of Brazil’s government debt from stable to negative.
Moreover, this is the first IPO to be postponed in Brazil this year, after eight initial share sales were suspended or scrapped last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Companies have raised $7.3 billion in IPOs in Brazil this year, compared with $1.8 billion for all of last year.
