SAO PAULO (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-based private equity fund Laep Investments, which controls the Brazilian unit of Parmalat SpA, and shareholders filed for an initial offering of depositary receipts in Brazil.

Banco UBS Pactual SA, the Latin American investment-banking unit of UBS AG, was hired to manage the transaction, Laep said in a filing with Brazil's Tradable Securities Commission. Laep, controlled by Brazil-born investors Marcus Elias and Eduardo Aguinaga de Moraes, took control of Parmalat in May 2006 during its in-court restructuring after pledging to pay the company's $50 million debt to banks.

Details on the size of Laep's share sale weren't disclosed in the filing.