(Reuters) – Brazil’s Moove Lubricants, backed by European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, on Tuesday set a price target of up to $1.94 billion for its U.S. initial public offering.
Foreign companies often look to U.S. listings in hopes of higher valuations and greater liquidity than local markets.
Moove and some existing shareholders are aiming to raise up to $437.5 million by offering 25 million shares priced between $14.50 and $17.50 each.
The Sao Paulo-based company, part of the Brazilian conglomerate Cosan (NYSE:) SA is offering 6.25 million shares, while other shareholders are offering 18.75 million shares for sale.
After the IPO, Cosan will remain the controlling shareholder with a 60.4% stake in Moove.
Moove was founded in 2008, when Cosan acquired ExxonMobil’s (NYSE:) lubricants assets in Brazil.
The company produces and distributes lubricants such as motor oils, greases and industrial fluids for use in vehicles, equipment, machines and aircraft under the Mobil brand name.
Since 2011, Moove has been striving for international expansion. In 2012, it entered Europe by buying ExxonMobil’s UK lubricants unit Comma Oil & Chemicals and in 2018 acquired the US lubricants market by acquiring Commercial Lubricants.
Moove’s revenue fell 1.6% from a year earlier to 5.02 billion reais ($921.2 million) in the six months ended June 30, as lubricant sales fell.
But it posted a profit of 237.6 million reais in the same period, compared with a loss of 58.4 million reais a year earlier.
In 2019, CVC had acquired a 30% stake in Moove for 588.6 million reais from Cosan.
Moove will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “MOOV”.
JP Morgan, BofA Securities, Citigroup, Itaú BBA, BTG Pactual and Santander (BME:) are the global coordinators for the offering.
($1 = 5.4497 reais)