Category: Brazil

Brazilian energy generation and transmission company Alupar Investimentos was on the road promoting a BRL250m non-convertible debenture issue through November 27. The issue will be made in 2 tranches, one due in 2013 and the other a year later. The 2013 tranche will pay a maximum spread of 1.90% over DI and the 2014 notes will pay up to 2.25% over the national inflation-linked NTN-B. Proceeds will go to pay down debt and finance capex. Fitch has a national rating of A and Moody’s has an Aa3 on the issue, which is managed by Itau.

The board of Brazil miner MMX has authorized the company to issue up to $55.4m equivalent in BRL-denominated non-convertible debentures due in 3 years, the company says in a regulatory filing. Proceeds will be used to pay down short-term debt. Iron ore miner MMX has operations in Brazil and Chile. Banco Votorantim is the lead.

Cosan Ltd, the holding company that controls Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Cosan has approved a plan to restructure its controlling group. The plan, which aims to consolidate control in the hands of controlling shareholder Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, may result in the sale of 5.5m class A common shares by Queluz Holdings Limited. The sale would take place with in the next 12 months, and must be done so that no more that 1.74m shares are sold within a given 90-day period. Cosan’s controlling group is composed of Aguassanta Participacoes, Queluz and Usina Bom Jesus Acucar e Alcool. The announcement seems to be geared toward reassuring the market, which reacted negatively Queluz’s announcement to the SEC the potential share sale, Itau says in a report. Cosan Ltd shares closed Friday at BRL13.79.

Brazilian petrochemicals giant Braskem is readying a $1.75bn project financing for a 20-year concession to build and operate 4 processing plants in Mexico using natural gas produced by Pemex. Up to 70% of the debt could come from multilaterals, while the rest might be targeted at commercial lenders, in addition to any participation in a B loan, Braskem VP for international strategy Roberto Ramos tells LatinFinance. “This financing will most definitely be done in both pesos and dollars,” says Ramos, who extols Mexico’s sophisticated project finance market and participants. The deal will likely have a 4-5 year construction period and around 12 years of post-completion amortizations. Ramos says the IFC, BNDES, US Exim and Bancomext/Nafin have already expressed strong interest in participating in the transaction, and that their contributions could add up to a sizable portion of the total. However, no commitments have been made yet. Braskem expects to put out an RFP soliciting lead arrangers for the deal in January, says Ramos. Brazilian and Mexican banks might be particularly well positioned for the financing given close ties to sponsors in the petrochemical project, he notes. The company used Mexico-based boutique Protego for advice throughout the concession bidding process, and will select a financial advisor for the financing. Braskem owns 60% of the Mexican concession, Idesa 20% and another investor, possibly Pemex, may end up owning the remaining 20%. Braskem and Mexico’s Idesa won the concession in the first week of November in a process rumored to involve some 30 companies.

Fitch has upgraded the national ratings of Brazil’s Bicbanco to A from A minus, citing the good results of the bank’s strategic planning, a satisfactory track record despite the global financial crisis and conservatism in boosting provisions. The outlook is stable. With a larger capital base following its 2007 IPO, Fitch believes Bicbanco is better positioned to implement its growth strategy in medium-sized companies and broaden its competitiveness.

Fitch has assigned an AA minus national debt rating to Camargo Correa’s proposed BRL950m debenture issue. The outlook is negative, reflecting deterioration in the Brazilian industrial conglomerate’s credit protection measures, which worsened in early 2009, since the company took a more aggressive financial position to fund the acquisition of Votorantim’s stake in VBC for BRL2.6bn. Fitch says Camargo’s leverage, as measured by net debt/Ebitda, rose to 2.6x as of June 30 because of the acquisition, from 1.5x on December 31 2008.

A roadshow for Ampla’s 2012 and 2015 BRL250m non-convertible bonds took off yesterday and runs through November 30, says the company, which is a unit of Endesa. The 2012 tranche will pay a maximum spread of 1.5% over DI while the 2015 is capped at 1.7% over NTN-B inflation-linked treasury notes. Proceeds are earmarked for repaying debt. The issue is managed by Bradesco and Banco Votorantim.

Sabesp’s board has approved a BRL900m short term bond issue to pay down an earlier BRL600m issue and other debt, the Brazilian water utility says. The new promissory notes will have a 180-day tenor. Banco Bradesco is managing the sale, for which a date has not been set. Sabesp’s investment plan calls for spending $8.6bn through 2013.

Brazil steel maker CSN says it is taking a 16.3% stake in Australia’s Riversdale Mining for AUD190.5m or AUD6.10 per share. The target’s share price closed at AUD6.03 November 24. Riversdale is a coal miner operating in southern Africa and Australia. It has a market cap of AUD1.1bn. Advisors’ names were not disclosed.