VisaNet Brazil to IPO in Next 90 Days

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian credit-card networking-services provider Visanet is planning an initial public offering of shares on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, or BM&FBovespa, in the next 90 days, Milton Vargas, vice president of local bank Bradesco (BBD), said Monday.

Visanet is 40% controlled by Bradesco and 32% by state-run Banco do Brasil SA (BBAS3.BR). The Brazilian subsidiary of Banco Santander (STD), through its local ABN Banco Real unit, holds 14%, while Visa International has 10% and other investors have 4%.

"The decision to hold an IPO has been taken by the controllers," said Vargas during a conference call with reporters. "Over the next few days, Visanet will send the necessary documents to the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission." The executive said Visanet's controllers haven't yet decided how many shares they will offer under the IPO.

According to local press reports, Visanet's IPO could raise between 5 billion Brazilian reals ($2.33 billion) and BRL10 billion.

The IPO would be the first this year in Brazil and could turn out to be one of the largest-ever share offers, rivaling that of local peer Redecard SA (RDCD3.BR) in 2007.

In July 2007, Redecard's IPO totaled BRL4.64 billion. Redecard is controlled by local banking giant Itau-Unibanco (ITU).

-By Rogerio Jelmayer, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-2847-4521; rogerio.jelmayer@dowjones.com

VisaNet, Brasil, Brazil