Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Tivit Terceirizacao de Tecnologia & Servicos SA, a Brazilian computer-services company, said its shareholders are raising about 660.8 million reais ($367 million) in the country’s second initial share sale this year, a potential bellwether for investor demand.

Tivit shareholders sold 44.1 million voting shares for 15 reais each, according a statement on the Web site of Brazil’s securities regulator yesterday. The price is less than the 16.50 reais to 20.50 reais estimated in the company’s prospectus.

Brazilian companies are returning to equity markets after the global financial crisis last year dried up liquidity and boosted investors’ aversion to risk, forcing some companies to sell debt or be taken over to finance operations. Cia. Brasileira de Meios de Pagamento, the payment-processing company known as VisaNet, in June raised a record 8.4 billion reais in Sao Paulo’s first initial public offering since June 2008.

“Foreign investors are very excited about companies that are representative of Brazil’s domestic demand,” said Luis Felipe Amaral, who helps manage about $90 million at Equitas Administracao de Fundos in Sao Paulo and didn’t take part in the Tivit IPO. “These deals will be a good thermometer for what the real demand is from foreigners looking to invest in Brazil.”

International investors have added 17.2 billion reais to Brazilian holdings this year as of Sept. 21, according to exchange owner BM&FBovespa SA. Foreign investors bought more than half of VisaNet’s shares in June and have snapped up 64 percent of the 9.7 billion reais in shares sold in initial and secondary offerings so far this year, BM&FBovespa data show.

Stock Rally

The inflow has helped the benchmark Bovespa index rally 60 percent this year after a record 41 percent drop in 2008. The number of IPOs fell to four last year amid the equity rout, following a record 64 in 2007.

Three other companies have filed to sell shares in Brazilian IPOs this year, with a fourth, beef producer JBS SA, planning an initial share sale of its U.S. unit. Real estate developer Direcional Engenharia SA, Brazilian clearing house Cetip SA - Balcao Organizado de Ativos & Derivativos, and Banco Santander (Brasil) SA plan to list on the Sao Paulo exchange.

Banco Santander SA, Spain’s largest lender, aims to raise as much as 13.1 billion reais, surpassing the VisaNet IPO, by selling shares in its Brazilian business to fund expansion and bolster the group’s capital.

Technology Services

Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil-based Tivit will begin trading on Sept. 28. The company provides information technology services for companies such as management of transportation and logistics, processing of financial information, and tracking of post-sales customer service.

Tivit’s revenue grew more than fourfold to 866.6 million reais in 2008 from 201.7 million reais in 2006, while profit shrank 19 percent during the same period to 14 million reais, according to the preliminary prospectus posted on the Web site of Brazil’s securities regulator.

In addition to IPOs, at least 10 Brazilian companies have filed in the last five weeks to sell shares in secondary offerings, including real estate developers Cyrela Brazil Realty SA Empreendimentos & Participacoes and Rossi Residencial SA, and toll-road operator Cia. de Concessoes Rodoviarias.

“You have some companies doing follow-ons that are well- known by the market and have been accompanied for some time,” Amaral said in a phone interview before details of the Tivit IPO were released. “The construction industry is at a very favorable moment right now because of government stimulus.”

Housing Plans

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in March that the government will spend 34 billion reais to build a million homes for low-income workers to spark growth in a slumping economy. Caixa Economica Federal, Brazil’s biggest mortgage lender, will exceed its 2009 home-loan target by 43 percent to compensate for a fall in lending by private banks, Cabinet Chief Dilma Rousseff said yesterday in Sao Paulo.

Multiplan Empreendimentos Imobiliarios SA, a Brazilian real estate developer, is raising 792.4 million reais in a stock offering. The company is selling 29.9 million common shares for 26.50 reais each, according to details posted on the securities regulator Web site yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paulo Winterstein in Sao Paulo at pwinterstein@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 25, 2009 09:35 EDT