Grupo Qualicorp, backed by Washington firm Carlyle Group, went public in June at R$13 per share, well below its target price range, in a market that was feeling the impact of the global financial uncertainties over European and U.S. sovereign debt.

The secondary share sale priced at R$16.50 per share Wednesday, April 18, but shares closed 1.74% higher at R$17 on Wednesday, suggesting investor interest may be picking up.

Carlyle, which owned 39.7% of São Paulo-based Qualicorp, sold 36.5 million shares in the follow-on offering that priced at R$16.50 per share on Wednesday. It raised around R$602.3 million. Earlier, Carlyle had scaled back its secondary offering from 48.5 million shares to 36.5 million shares.

Qualicorp founder Jose Seripieri Filho, who controls investment vehicle L2 FIP, held 27.85% and sold 4.3 million shares, for proceeds of around R$71 million.

The secondary share sale -- the first this year -- bodes well for a select initial public offerings scheduled for later this month: Brazil has not had an IPO since July. Investment bank BTG Pactual SA, whose CEO, Andre Esteves, was fined April 13 by Italian regulator Consob for insider trading, is targeting a market value of up to $15 billion in an IPO April 26. (The firm said retail investors who have put in orders before Monday can withdraw their offers within five working days.) The other April issuers are car rental company Cia. de Locação das Américas, known as Locamerica, and furniture maker Unicasa Industria de Móveis SA. Locamerica and BTG are private equity-backed.

One other potential IPO, by oil driller Seabras Serviços de Petróleo SA, a unit of Norway's Seadrill Ltd., was postponed to allow the company to make certain changes to its corporate structure.

Carlyle has not disclosed the total equity amount it invested in Qualicorp, but its bet looks to be a big success so far. Carlyle paid around $1 billion in debt and equity (about R$1.6 billion at an exchange rate of R$1.60 per $1), when it acquired a 69% stake in Qualicorp from Greenwich, Conn.-based General Atlantic LLC in July 2010.

The investment gave Qualicorp an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion, including debt and equity rolled over by management, a source said at the time.

Carlyle has returned R$1.5 billion in cash, including the sale of shares from the IPO and the secondary offering. Its remaining 52 million shares are valued at R$884 million at the Wednesday close.

The sponsor invested out of Carlyle Partners V, a $13.7 billion buyout fund, and Carlyle South America Buyout Fund, to acquire its stake in the health insurer.

In June 28, Qualicorp's IPO priced at R$13 per share, well below the target range of R$16 to R$19 per share. It garnered an enterprise value of R$1.4 billion, or 11 times Ebitda.

Including the overallotment that was exercised after the IPO, Carlyle sold a total of 70.1 million shares in the IPO, out of the 158.2 million shares it held, retaining a 39.5% stake, or about 88.1 million shares, in Qualicorp. Carlyle reaped around R$911 million from the IPO.

Heráclito de Brito Gomes Jr., Qualicorp's CEO, sold his entire stake of 714,285 shares in the IPO.

Qualicorp was founded in 1997 and now provides coverage for 3.8 million beneficiaries, according to company information. Last year it reported R$251.3 million of adjusted Ebitda on net revenue of R$676.1 million, up from R$174 million adjusted Ebitda on net revenue of R$470 million in 2010.

Credit Suisse Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bradesco BBI coordinated Qualicorp's secondary offering.