The Toronto Stock Exchange is looking for candidates for initial public offerings in Canada among mid-sized Brazilian companies, the bourse’s Chief Executive Loui Anastasopoulos said after a week-long visit to the country.
Anastasopoulos said the targets are mainly in mining, renewable energy and technology, areas favored by Canadian investors. Some could use the TSX Venture Exchange, tailored for startups, he added.The most successful example of a company that raised capital in Canada in its initial stages is Sygma Lithium Corp, a lithium miner operating in the Minas Gerais Brazilian state.
Its 2018 IPO in TSX Venture Exchange valued the company, focused on selling the mineral to car battery makers, at around $90 million. Currently listed also in Nasdaq, Sigma now has a $4.4 billion market capitalization. “That is a solution for mid-sized companies that need to raise capital in small transactions that are difficult to accomplish in local capital markets”, Anastasopoulos said.
Considering the potential for new listings, TMX Group, which controls the Toronto Stock Exchange, has had a director based in Latin America since 2019. Formerly based in Peru, director Guillaume Legare is currently in Brazil.