Thursday, February 23, 2012

Carlyle to Re-monetize Qualicorps

The Carlyle Group invested in Brazilian health insurer Qualicorp in June 2010.  Carlyle, a 68% owner of Qaulicorp, hawked the deal in its press release:

Qualicorp will be well positioned to continue its strategy of enabling Brazil’s middle class to access high-quality private health insurance.

Less than a year later Qualicorp announced an independent public offering (IPO).  The IPO was expected to price between BRL 16 and BRL 19.  It went at BRL 13.

Qualicorp plummeted today to BRL 16 with the announcement that Carlyle would sell half of its remaining shares in a second public offering.  Early shareholders face dilution.
Carlyle uses Qualicorp's brass balls to raise cash.  Keep this in mind as America's health insurance system deforms.  Carlyle wants a stake in the Medicaid private insurer space.