Adecoagro S.A., the Luxembourg-based agricultural company backed by billionaire investor George Soros, priced shares in its initial public offering at the bottom of an already reduced price range Friday.
Adecoagro said it sold 28.6 million shares for $11 each, raising about $314.3 million. The firm, which operates in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday under the symbol "AGRO."
The shares were trading at $11.44, up 44 cents or 4 percent, in Friday afternoon trading.
The company had planned to sell shares for $13 to $15 each, with shareholders selling 7.1 million shares, according to a regulatory filing.
In a filing on Thursday, the company cut the price range to $11 to $12 and said that shareholders would sell only 165,503 shares. Several of Adecoagro's principal shareholders including Pampas Humedas LLC — an affiliate of Soros Fund Management — originally planned to sell some shares but scrapped that plan. A spokesperson for Soros declined to comment on the change.
The details of Adecoagro's IPO pricing were originally expected to be released Thursday after the U.S. market close.
Following the public offering, Adecoagro also plans to sell shares worth a quarter of the proceeds — roughly $78.6 million — to Al Gharrafa Investment Co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Holding LLC, which is an investment vehicle of the Gulf state's government.
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