Brazil-based educational firm Anima Educacao said it had set an initial public offering later this month. The shareholders intended to offer BRL 348 million or USD 158 million worth of shares in the IPO. Animo said proceeds of the IPO would be used for expansion as well as imrpovement of its balance sheets.  Anima planned to list on BM &FBovespa, a Brazilian exchange and start trading on October 28.

Established in 2003, Anima has three universities in Brazil located in Belo Horizonte and Santos. For its primary and secondary offering, Anima and its shareholders would sell an initial 21.1 million shares, according to a prospectus which appeared on the newspaper Valor Economico. The price per share for the IPO was pegged at around BRL 16.50 to BRL 22. Anima may also offer added shares totaling 4,128,181. In case shares get oversubscribed, the company could also offer 3,163,636 shares in extra allotment.

According to a Bloomberg report, IPOs had become the go-to strategy for educational institutions to raise money. Mergers and acquisitions had increased over the past two years, therefore increasing competition in the education sector.