(Wall Street Journal) April 18, 2012 – The controlling shareholders of Brazilian health-care company Grupo Qualicorp SA (QUAL3.BR) raised 674 million Brazilian reais ($364 million) from a share sale, the country’s first this year.

The company said Wednesday its controlling shareholders sold 40.64 million shares via a secondary offering on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, or BMFBovespa. Each share was priced at BRL16.50.

The amount raised could increase to BRL758.5 million if the controlling shareholders, private equity firm Carlyle Group and Qualicorp founder Jose Seripieri Filho, decide to exercise their right to offer additional shares to meet strong demand during the next 30 days.

Qualicorp didn’t disclose how many shares each shareholder sold, but said the shares were sold in Brazil and to qualified investors in the U.S.

Credit Suisse Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bradesco BBI coordinated the operation.

The sale ends a more than nine-month dry spell for the local equities market, as Brazilian companies either declined to sell new shares or were thwarted in their attempts to do so due to a perceived deterioration in Europe’s debt crisis.

In the most recent case, Brazil Travel Turismo e Participacoes SA abandoned its plans to hold an IPO in February due to lack of demand.