There is activity. There are companies preparing for 2027.
From São Paulo, Bank of America's investment banking leadership is reading the quiet signals beneath Brazil's market noise — and what they see is a country preparing to open its doors to capital at scale. With at least ten IPOs projected for 2027 and nearly ten billion dollars in expected activity, the forecast is less a prediction than a reflection of a pipeline already in motion. Brazil's low unemployment, expanding economy, and commodity strength form a foundation that geopolitical turbulence has shaken but not broken. In the long arc of emerging market cycles, this moment looks less like uncertainty and more like the pause before a significant turn.
- A wave of Brazilian companies is quietly assembling the paperwork, advisors, and timing strategies needed to go public — and Bank of America says the pipeline is real, deep, and could exceed ten listings in 2027.
- Near-term volatility — an Iran-driven inflation spike, a looming Brazilian election, and delayed rate cuts — is holding companies back from launching now, creating a compressed queue of issuers waiting for the political fog to lift.
- The domestic exchange B3 is poised to reclaim ground lost to foreign listings, with Bank of America signaling a meaningful shift toward home-market IPOs over the next two years.
- Real estate, consumer goods, infrastructure, and retail are the sectors closest to the starting line, with early 2026 listings like PicPay, Agibank, and Compass already warming the market's appetite.
- The post-election window in late 2026 is emerging as the critical inflection point — the moment when political clarity, fiscal adjustment expectations, and capital inflows could converge to unlock the full pipeline.
Bruno Saraiva, co-head of investment banking for Brazil at Bank of America, speaks with the calm of someone who has already seen what most haven't: a deep and active pipeline of Brazilian companies preparing to go public. His forecast for 2027 is not speculative — it is grounded in conversations with real issuers at various stages of preparation.
Bank of America projects at least ten Brazilian IPOs in 2027, representing roughly fifty billion reais in capital market activity across domestic and international listings. Saraiva was careful to note that the pipeline could support even more. The forecast includes not just IPOs but secondary offerings and block trades, reflecting a broad reawakening of Brazil's capital markets after years of near-silence.
The economic backdrop, despite its turbulence, supports the thesis. Geopolitical shocks have delayed interest rate declines and spiked inflation, but Bank of America still expects a weakening dollar and sustained capital flows toward emerging markets. Brazil's structural advantages — historic low unemployment, economic expansion, and a commodity export base that global investors continue to prize — make it a natural beneficiary. A fiscal adjustment after the election, regardless of who wins, is expected to further energize the market.
For now, most companies are waiting. The election creates uncertainty that makes capital allocation harder, and only one or two listings may occur before the vote. But the post-election window is where the real action is expected. Sectors like real estate, consumer goods, infrastructure, and retail are furthest along in preparation, and the domestic exchange B3 is expected to capture a growing share of new listings as the balance tilts back toward home markets.
As Saraiva put it, what would have looked like solid activity in 2026 now looks even more substantial in 2027. The machinery is assembled. The question is simply when the window opens.
Bruno Saraiva sits across from journalists in São Paulo, speaking with the measured confidence of someone who has spent months reading the room. As co-head of investment banking for Brazil at Bank of America, he has visibility into something most people don't: the pipeline of companies preparing to go public. What he sees for 2027 is a market ready to move.
Bank of America is forecasting at least ten initial public offerings from Brazilian companies in 2027, representing roughly fifty billion reais—nearly ten billion dollars—in capital market activity. This figure encompasses not just IPOs but secondary offerings and block trades, involving Brazilian firms listing both domestically and abroad. Saraiva was direct about the depth of this projection: the pipeline exists to support it, and it could potentially exceed it. "There is activity," he said. "There are companies of various sizes preparing for 2027."
The forecast rests on a specific reading of Brazil's economic moment. Yes, there is volatility—the war in Iran has disrupted markets, and Brazilian elections loom. But beneath the noise, Saraiva and his colleague Hans Lin see structural tailwinds. Interest rate declines have been postponed, not canceled, as inflation spikes from geopolitical shocks. Yet Bank of America continues to expect a weak dollar and capital flowing toward emerging markets, a dynamic that favors Brazil specifically. The country has unemployment at historic lows, an expanding economy, and the commodity export base that global investors still crave. A fiscal adjustment appears likely under whoever wins the election—a development that typically energizes capital markets.
The composition of the pipeline is shifting. Right now, the balance between foreign and domestic listings is relatively even. But over the next year and a half to two years, Lin suggested, the Brazilian exchange B3 should see a substantially larger share of new listings. This represents a meaningful reorientation toward the home market.
Context matters here. Brazilian IPO activity had nearly vanished before 2026. The market has begun to stir again this year with the listings of PicPay and Agibank in the United States, followed by Compass, the real estate unit of the Cosan conglomerate, in May. One or possibly two more companies might go public before the election, Saraiva noted, but the bulk of the pipeline is waiting. Companies are positioning themselves for the post-election window, when political uncertainty clears and capital allocation becomes easier.
The sectors showing the most promise are real estate, consumer goods, infrastructure, and retail. These are not speculative bets but areas where Bank of America has already been working with potential issuers. The bank's optimism is not naive—it is rooted in conversations with actual companies at various stages of preparation.
What Saraiva emphasized, almost as an aside, captures the shift in tone: "What we would have seen as very solid activity in 2026, we are seeing as much more solid activity in 2027." The trajectory is upward. The machinery is being assembled. By next year, if the forecast holds, Brazil's capital markets will look substantially different from today.
Notable Quotes
There is activity, there are companies of various sizes preparing for 2027, and the pipeline could potentially exceed the forecast.— Bruno Saraiva, co-head of investment banking for Brazil at Bank of America
What we would have seen as very solid activity in 2026, we are seeing as much more solid activity in 2027.— Bruno Saraiva
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Bank of America think 2027 will be so different from the years before 2026, when IPO activity was essentially frozen?
Companies need confidence to go public, and confidence requires two things: a sense that the market will receive them, and clarity about the political and economic backdrop. Brazil had neither for a while. Now there's a pipeline of actual companies preparing, and the bank sees the conditions aligning.
But you mentioned volatility from the Iran war and upcoming elections. How do those not derail the forecast?
They create near-term noise, but they're not structural problems for Brazil. The election will resolve by late 2026. The war affects sentiment and interest rates, but it doesn't change Brazil's fundamentals—low unemployment, commodity exports, capital inflows. Companies are simply waiting for the political fog to clear.
The shift toward B3 listings instead of foreign exchanges—what's driving that?
It's partly a maturation of the Brazilian market itself. As the domestic exchange becomes more attractive and liquid, companies see less reason to list abroad. It's also about where capital is flowing. If emerging markets are getting stronger inflows, Brazil's own market becomes a viable venue.
Real estate, consumer, infrastructure, retail—those are broad categories. Are there specific subsectors that stand out?
The source doesn't drill down that far, but the fact that Bank of America is already working with companies in those areas suggests they're not speculating. These are sectors where there are actual candidates ready to move.
What happens if the election produces a government that doesn't pursue fiscal adjustment?
That would be a surprise, according to Saraiva's reading. He sees fiscal adjustment as likely regardless of who wins, which suggests the market has already priced in a certain baseline of fiscal discipline. But if that doesn't materialize, the 2027 forecast would weaken.
Is ten IPOs a lot for Brazil?
It depends on the baseline. After years of near-zero activity, ten would represent a genuine market revival. The dollar volume—ten billion dollars—is substantial enough to signal real confidence returning to Brazilian capital markets.