Pemex Launches Debt Buyback

Mexican oil company Pemex has launched a series of tender offers to buy back up to $7bn in outstanding bonds in exchange for cash, as part of an ongoing liability management program. Pemex’s overseas financing unit, Pemex Project Funding Master Trust, is offering to repurchase all of the outstanding debt from seven sets of fixed-rate dollar-denominated bonds – due 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2027 – totaling nearly $6bn. In a second tender, it is offering to buy back a portion of other fixed and floating-rate dollar bonds outstanding – due 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 – up to a maximum of $1bn, also for cash. The offer expires October 16, and is expected to be funded with the company’s $16bn cash reserves as of June, according to a Pemex official. The official declined to comment on any potential new bond issue connected to the buyback. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are dealer managers.