The insurance unit of Banco do Brasil SA, BB Seguridade Participacoes SA is raising 8.5 billion reais or US$4.2 billion. At this price, the said IPO would be the largest ever this 2013.

The bank had sold 500 million shares at 17 reais per share and is within the range of the company's forecast. This was confirmed by the country's securities regulator, Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios, through its website. The total value of the sale can climb as high as 11.5 billion reais including the oversubscription by underwriters. 

At these prices, the insurer is worth 34 billion reais which is about half of Banco do Brasil's market value pegged at 73.8 billion reais.

The IPO of BB Seguridad would be the largest of the year. This exceeds Zoetis Inc's animal health company IPO worth US$2.57 billion last February. It is also the largest since July 2009, when US$7.5 billion was raised by US$7.5 billion according to Bloomberg data. BB Seguridade controls all tbe insurance businesses of Banco do Brasil including its joint ventures with Mapfre SA of Madrid, Spain.