BRAZIL - The manufacturer of wood panels Guararapes, based in Santa Catarina, requested registration to carry out its initial offering of shares.

The operation, to be coordinated by Bank of America, BTG Pactual, XP, Citi, Bradesco BBI and UBS-BB, involves the sale of new shares, in addition to a stake held by the investment fund Brasil Agronegócio, of BRZ Investimentos.

The company, which presents itself as one of the country's largest manufacturers of wooden products for the furniture, decoration and construction market, said in the document that it will use the proceeds from the sale of new shares to invest in increasing the production of plywood and MDF panels, acquire rivals and strengthen cash and working capital.

Created in 1984, Guararapes presents itself as one of the largest manufacturers of wooden panels in the furniture and construction industry in Brazil, with a total production capacity of 600 thousand cubic meters of MDF and 350 thousand cubic meters of plywood per year.

In the preliminary prospectus of the offer, Guararapes also informs that it had net income of BRL 458.4 million in the first nine months of 2020, compared to BRL 405 million a year earlier.