By John Tilak and Stephen Lacey
TORONTO/NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining company Nexa Resources SA NEXA.N , formerly Votorantim Metais Holding SA, has priced its initial public offering at $16 per share, the company said on Thursday.
Nexa is offering 31 million shares and now expects to raise about $496 million, the company said in a statement. company had said earlier this month that it expected to price at $18 to $21 per share, and raise up to $651 million. miner, which is one of the world's biggest zinc producers, is planning a dual listing in New York and Toronto under the ticker symbol "NEXA".
Nexa expects to use some of the IPO proceeds to develop its growth projects in 2018 and 2019, including the Aripuana greenfield project in Brazil, according to a filing with regulators.
The issue would be Canada's third biggest-ever mining initial public offering, according to Thomson Reuters data. It comes at a time of the year when IPOs in Canada have been slowing after the strongest first half in 11 years.
While Canada is the source of a large amount of the world's mining financings, investors have been cautious about new issues in the sector.
A selloff in commodity prices about four years ago sharply reduced the appetite for resource investments among portfolio managers. Investors will be closely watching Nexa's debut to gauge interest in the mining sector.
"Any metals and mining IPO would be tough to do," one industry source said earlier this week. "There is a lot of scar tissue among dedicated metals and mining investors."
Reuters first reported in April that an IPO was being considered by Votorantim Metais and in July that the company was looking to raise $750 million.
Nexa operates five industrial compounds in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais and in Cajamarquilla, Peru. It holds a majority stake in Cia Minera Milpo SAA MIL.LM .
The company produces a range of metals, including zinc, copper, lead, silver and gold.
Underwriters for the offering include JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) JPM.N , BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc BMO.N , Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) MS.N and Credit Suisse CSGN.S .