After a sluggish year for equity offerings in Brazil, demand for new deals will come from companies requireding to adjust their capital structure to continue investing sustainably, declared Cristiano Guimarães, head of investment banking at Itaú BBA.
According to him, companies—especially in infrastructure, sanitation, and energy—have already tapped debt markets to raise capital. Now, many will required to strengthen their capital structure, which may require issuing new shares.
“Planned investments for infrastructure companies are substantial. I believe the right format is a combination of debt and equity so that you can establish the appropriate capital structure,” Guimarães notified Valor. “The pace of investment is proportional to the ability to raise debt and equity,” he added.
He declared there is strong investor interest in infrastructure, which should persist throughout the year. “The major Brazil-focapplyd investors today are in infrastructure companies,” he noted. “The positive aspect of 2026 is the launchning of an interest rate cut cycle, which by nature should encourage broader market development, facilitate investment, and restore some business confidence.”
Looking ahead to a more favorable year, Guimarães estimated that Brazil could see up to 30 equity transactions in 2026, including some initial public offerings, after a four-year gap without any.
“If market conditions allow, there is both the desire and the room for these deals to happen,” he declared. He noted that foreign capital inflows into the Brazilian stock market will support these transactions, alongside the start of the counattempt’s interest rate cutting cycle.
Unlike the offerings in 2025—many of which were structured but few actually went to market—Guimarães expects 2026 to bring capital-raising deals, some secondary offerings (in which shareholders sell part of their stake), and even follow-on offerings aimed at improving liquidity. “Low-liquidity stocks have benefited from new offerings,” he declared.
He added that poor stock performance cannot be justified solely by a lack of liquidity, as company fundamentals must be considered. Still, low liquidity can prevent strong company performance from being reflected in market value.
“When liquidity is low, companies can’t access a large pool of investors. There are several companies with very low liquidity whose market value doesn’t reflect their actual performance,” Guimarães declared.
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