Bloomberg — Shares in trucking and logistics company Grupo Traxion SAB de CV sank by the most in nearly two years Friday, August 11, following a share sale that sought to capitalize on the buzz around nearshoring. The stock was down again this Tuesday.
Traxion sold shares worth 4.3 billion pesos ($253 million), of which 2.5 billion pesos was new stock and the rest existing equity, excluding an over-allotment option, according to a filing. Shares sold at 30 pesos each, a discount to Thursday’s close of 32.88 pesos.
Shares closed down 11.3% at 29.18 pesos in Mexico City on Friday, the biggest intraday drop since September 2021 as investors adjusted to the increased supply of stock and the discounted price of the offer. The stock has dropped almost 1% further since Friday, and is trading this morning at 28.89 pesos.
Among existing shareholders who trimmed their stakes were private equity funds Discovery Americas and Nexxus Capital, both of which had backed Traxion in its 2017 initial public offering. Discovery cut its stake in the company from 23% to 14%, while Nexxus went from 11.2% to 9.5%, before the over-allotment, the company said in its filing.
Traxion was up 22% this year through Thursday, boosted by interest in nearshoring, which involves firms building out manufacturing operations in Mexico to take advantage of its proximity to the US, wary of the supply chain issues that made operating further afield difficult during the pandemic. The trend has helped Mexico’s Bolsa IPC Index record a 10% gain this year.
Mexican companies are using interest in the phenomenon to raise cash. In addition to a series of share offerings by real estate investment trusts, in June industrial property developer Vesta raised $446 million in a US-listing, the most by a Mexican firm in the US in more than a decade.
Traxion said funds from the sale will be used to expand its fleet of personnel transport vehicles “as well as through potential targeted acquisitions, mainly in asset-light companies that increase our exposure to Nearshoring.”
(Updates with closing share price and adds details on selling shareholders in paragraph four.)
--With assistance from Ilan Brik.
--Tuesday stock price update by Bloomberg Línea
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