Stone Pagamentos raises US$1.15bn from IPO

Brazilian credit card processor Stone Pagamentos raised US$1.15bn from its IPO on the Nasdaq as strong global investor interest allowed the firm to price its shares above initial estimates.

The amount could be increased to US$1.36bn since Stone has an option to sell an extra lot of shares in the next 30 days.

Stone sold 47.73mn shares at US$24 each, up from a range of between US$21 and US$23, a person close to the transaction told BNamericas.

The shares will begin trading on Thursday afternoon under the STNE ticker symbol.

The IPO attracted interest from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Ant Financial, the payment arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which both purchased shares in Stone.

In January, Brazilian rival PagSeguro raised US$2.3bn from its IPO on the NYSE.

Strong investor interest in these IPOs are due to the fast growth of the Brazilian card market and its vast potential for further expansion.

Controlled by Brazilian private equity firm Arpex Capital, with funds Actis and Gávea Investimentos as minority shareholders, Stone will use the IPO proceeds to finance acquisitions and investments in technology.