SAO PAULO, April 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian apparel retailer Lojas Renner is preparing to launch a roughly 4.5 billion reais share offering, financial blog Brazil Journal reported on Friday. The company plans to use the proceeds to fund its growth plan, including potential mergers and acquisitions. Shares rose more the 8% in the afternoon trading session. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl Editing by Chris Reese)