Category: Brazil

The board of Brazilian natural gas distributor Comgas has approved the sale of BRL100m in 2014 debentures. The notes will pay the DI rate plus 1.5%. Comgas has not yet indicated how it plans to use proceeds from the operation, which still must be approved by regulators. Bradesco is managing the transaction.

The board of Brazilian steelmaker CSN has approved the buyback of up to 10.8m shares until August 27. It does not indicate how it would fund the repurchase, which could cost more than BRL600m. CSN has 455.3m shares outstanding, which closed Monday at BRL56.30. UBS, Credit Suisse and Itau are the intermediaries on the repurchase.

Brazilian developer Trisul’s has completed the sale of BRL200m in 2013 debentures, its first issue in that market. The notes, rated A on a national scale, pay DI plus 2.5%. The developer, formed from the merger of real estate companies Tricury and Incosul, plans to use proceeds to acquire new property and for working capital. Bradesco managed the transaction, with Banco ABC, HSBC, Banif, Banco Votorantim, Unibanco and Sofisa as co-managers.

South African miner AngloGold Ashanti says it will purchase Sao Bento Gold, owner of Brazilian mining company São Bento Mineracao, for $70m. The transaction will be settled by the issue of AngloGold shares to Sao Bento’s current owner, Eldorado Gold, AngloGold says. Sao Bento controls a Brazilian gold operation close to AngloGold’s proposed Corrego do Sitio mine, in the state of Minas Gerais.

Brazilian oil and gas startup OGX, which went public in June, has chosen Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling to lease 2 existing offshore drilling rigs. The semi-submersible rigs, called Ocean Ambassador and Ocean Lexington, will each be chartered for 3 years. OGX has been in discussion with Queiroz Galvao for a similar deal, but terminated talks on reaching agreement with Diamond. OGX says it is looking to contract up to two additional ships, and that exploration of the offshore blocks it won in a December government auction will begin in H2 2009. The charter will be financed with OGX’s own resources from its $3.4bn IPO in June. The stock is down 32% since launch, closing at BRL770 Friday.

Brazil’s Parana Banco has closed books on a $35m bond issue, an offer that had originally been set for $100m and was cut to $50m mid-July. The 2010 notes with a 7.750% coupon priced at 99.717 to yield 7.875%, in line with guidance given at the conclusion of a June roadshow. Amid increasingly challenging market conditions, demand reached only $35m, with a few orders still coming in after books closed, according to an official familiar with the transaction. Subscription came mostly from European institutional investors. Queluz Securities managed the sale.

JBS has launched a consent solicitation to modify indentures on $275m in 9.375% of 2011 bonds and $300m in 10.50% of 2016 bonds. The Brazilian beef producer is paying $25 per $1,000 to holders of the 2011 and $40 per $1,000 to holders of 2016s, in an offer launched Friday that expires August 13. JBS has become the world’s largest beef exporter through international acquisitions and the offer is part of a move to reorganize the debt structure to better suit incorporation of international assets. ING, Santander and UBS are managing the operation.

Stephen Everhart has left the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to teach project finance and risk management at the American University in Cairo (AUC). After tours in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela with the World Bank and IFC, he took over as OPIC MD in 2002. While at OPIC, Everhart led initiatives to boost CAFTA-DR exposure and build out an education portfolio.

The World Bank has approved its biggest ever loan to a sub-national, a $1.1bn loan for the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The 30-year development policy loan starts with a $650m tranche and disburses an extra $450m on completion of certain conditions in the agreement, expected by 2009. The World Bank declines to state the rate. Proceeds will be used to restructure part of the state’s debt and smooth out its debt servicing profile, as part of a fiscal sustainability program. Rio Grande do Sul suffers one of the worst fiscal and debt profiles in Brazil, in which debt is 2x revenue, according to the lender.

Brazilian rental car provider Localiza is evaluating its options for debt raising, IR director Silvio Guerra tells LatinFinance. “At this point we don’t want to issue more equity,” he says, explaining that debt is the cheaper option, and the company is only about 1.3x levered. Localiza completed a non-deal road show in Europe with Goldman Sachs last week to meet existing equity investors. It also met investors in New York this week. Its board this month authorized raising up to $500m in the international or domestic capital markets.