JPMorgan today launched a global depositary shares (GDS) program for Grupo Clarin, Argentina’s largest media company, making it the first Argentine company to have a depositary receipt (DR) listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The GDS program was launched in conjunction with the company’s IPO which raised $462 million and was made through a private placement offering under Rule 144A and Regulation S.
Grupo Clarin is a market leader in cable television, Internet access, printing and publishing, and broadcasting and programming in Argentina. Its flagship newspaper, Diario Clarin, has the highest circulation in Latin America and the second highest circulation in the Spanish-language world. This is the largest IPO by an Argentine company since 1997.
“By bringing to market the first-ever Argentine GDS in London, JPMorgan again demonstrates its expertise in delivering effective capital markets solutions to clients. This transaction further reinforces JPMorgan’s presence in Argentina and our leadership in depositary receipts in Latin America,” says Claudine Gallagher, global head of JPMorgan’s Depositary Receipts Group.
Today, more than 1,800 companies from over 75 countries sponsor over 2,200 DR programs in the form of American Depositary Receipts that list on U.S. exchanges or Global Depositary Receipts, which typically list in London or Luxembourg. DRs are securities that represent ownership in foreign corporations. These dollar-denominated securities typically trade on the U.S. and/or European markets and settle in accordance with those market standards.