Brazil's Hypera shares jump after leniency agreement with authorities

Shares in Brazilian drugmaker Hypera SA rose 6% on Wednesday after it entered into a long-expected leniency agreement with the country's authorities related to investigations into illegal payments by former executives to public officials.

Shares in Brazilian drugmaker Hypera SA rose 6% on Wednesday after it entered into a long-expected leniency agreement with the country's authorities related to investigations into illegal payments by former executives to public officials. The agreement, struck with Brazil's federal comptroller CGU and solicitor general AGU and announced on Tuesday, includes a fine of 110 million reais ($22.98 million), which will be paid by the company's founding shareholder Joao Alves de Queiroz Filho, with no cash impact for Hypera.

JPMorgan analysts welcomed the agreement, saying it settled a long-term issue with the company's governance. "It removes any fears about impacts over tax benefits as it was reinstated that the company did not benefit from any of those payments or hurt the public sector," the analysts said in a note.

Shares in Hypera were up 6.1% at 41.16 reais in late morning trading, after reaching their all-time high of 41.60 reais, earlier. The broader Bovespa Index rose 0.1%. ($1 = 4.7861 reais)