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Brazilian reinsurer IRB files for IPO

  • Publish Date: Posted almost 7 years ago

Brazil's reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros is closer to listing on the Sao Paolo Stock Exchange after the three banks that together own a majority stake in company said that they had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the country's securities regulator CVM.

In series of securities filings, BB Seguridade Participações, which is a unit of state-controlled lender Banco do Brasil, Banco Bradesco and Itaú Unibanco Holding said they will sell part of their stakes, in a so-called secondary share offering.

The banks said the notice to the regulator should not be considered an offering announcement, which "will depend on favourable market conditions".

IRB shareholders originally agreed to list the company in August 2015, but the offering was postponed. In November 2015, Itaú Unibanco asked the Brazilian securities regulator to halt the pre-IPO process.

IRB was formed in 1939 and was the state monopoly reinsurer until 2007, when international reinsurers were permitted to enter the market.

For 2016, the reinsurer generated 4.9bn reals ($1.5bn) of gross written premiums, up 13.6 percent from the prior year. It reported a combined ratio of 92.2 percent, 1.2 points better than in 2015. 

Meanwhile, net income rose 11.3 percent year-on-year to 849.9mn reals ($261mn) in 2016.