Banco Santander, Banco do Brasil and Bradesco have agreed to consolidate their outdoor ATM machine networks. Together they include about 11,000 machines located in airports, gas stations, supermarkets, shopping malls, drugstores and bus terminals. Statements from the banks indicate that the move will increase the networks’ cost efficiency and provide better access for clients. A new brand will be created for the merged ATM networks. The banks expect to conclude the deal in 5 months.
Category: Bonds
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Ecuador Gets CAF Credit
Multilateral CAF has approved $200m in loans to Ecuador. Out of the total sum, $100m will be a loan to improve the country’s drinking water services and sewage system. The other $100m will be a revolving credit line to Ecuador’s development bank, Corporacion Financiera Nacional, that will help it assist the productive sector.
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UBS Adds in DCM, Sales
UBS has hired ex-Citi banker Carlos Corona for its LatAm DCM team and Rod Eichler, ex-RBS, for its EM debt, currency and derivatives sales group, according to an official at the bank. Corona started this week as executive director and senior originator on the DCM team reporting to Mark Tuttle. He was previously with the LatAm loans group at Citi. Eichler will join the debt, currency and derivatives sales group in April, reporting to David Cannon.
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DomRep, Vene Get IDB Loans
The IDB has approved a $100m loan for the Dominican Republic to help build 34 schools, refurbish more than 200 schools and stock classroom libraries. The loan is for a 25-year term, including a 5-year grace period, at a Libor-based interest rate. The government of the Dominican Republic will provide $10m in local counterpart funds. Separately, the IDB has approved a $50m loan for Venezuela to improve drinking water service quality. The government will provide $25m in local counterpart funds, taking total funding for the program to $75m. The IDB facility will have a 25-year term, with a 5-year grace period, at a variable interest rate based on Libor.
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ACCION Mines Brazil’s North
Global microfinance organization ACCION International is expanding in Brazil after president Lula approved its application to establish a unit in the state of Amazonas. The IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund will take an 18.1% stake in ACCION Microfinancas. Private investor Luiz Felipe D’Avila and other private investors will own 8.5%, and ACCION will hold 73.4% of the organization. ACCION will start operations in Manaus, the largest city in Amazonas, with plans to extend to cities throughout Brazil’s northern region. The area is home to an estimated 1.9m micro entrepreneurs, just 8%-10% of who have received any kind of loan from a bank or microfinance organization, says ACCION. It issued its first microloan in Brazil in 1973. Partner microfinance institutions operate in 23 countries in LatAm, Asia, Africa and the US. In the last decade, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 28.5m loans totaling $23.4bn.
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Itau Adds NY Bankers
Itau has added 2 bankers to its New York office, according to an official at the Brazilian bank. Ricardo Navarro joined the DCM team this month from Stark Investments in Miami, where he went after leaving Deutsche’s DCM team in 2008. Baruc Saez, who was at Marathon Asset Management for 4 years, also after working at Deutsche Bank, joined last week and will work on special situations.
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Batista Shipping Unit Edges to Float
OSX, the Brazilian offshore shipping company being formed by Eike Batista, is a step closer to going public. The company filed its charter with the CVM late Friday detailing rules surrounding capital and governance structure. It says it has been authorized by the board to raise equity capital of up to BRL10bn through the placement of ordinary shares. It does not state whether this would be done on the public market or with private investors. However, OSX has been widely cited as one of the main candidates for an IPO in 2010. In its charter, OSX says its goal is to be involved in shipbuilding as well as providing equipment and services for offshore oil and gas. Among the first steps for the company is to build a shipyard in the port of Biguacu, in the state of Santa Catarina, where OSX has already acquired most of the necessary development rights. The facility is expected to command an investment of $500m-$600m. The goal is to produce standardized vessels for exploration of Brazil’s offshore fields and lease them to Batista’s oil and gas company OSX, as well as to Petrobras and others in Brazil. Batista says much of the financing for the shipyard itself may come from the BNDES, due to alignment with Brazil’s plan to develop its natural resources. He also notes talks with Singaporean and Korean builders to have them build and develop the facility in exchange for a minority investment in the company. Batista’s recent focus on OSX has drawn attention away from an earlier plan of his to take public EBX, the holding company for all of his infrastructure companies, say executives close to Batista. The executive originally planned to raise up to $10bn on the stock market to capitalize the holding company and reduce subsidiaries’ reliance on the whims of the capital markets. As market conditions deteriorated, the plan became to raise a similar amount of cash via a giant infrastructure private equity fund. That idea seemed to fall on deaf ears with potential investors and sov
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Mexico Gets IDB Education Loan
The IDB has approved a $100m loan to Mexico to help it improve education in isolated villages and indigenous communities. The total cost of the new program is $166.7m, with local counterpart funds accounting for $66.7m equivalent. The $100m IDB loan is for 25 years with a 4.5 year grace period and an interest rate based on Libor.
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Ecopetrol Gets US Exim Loan
The US Exim Bank has approved a $1bn preliminary loan commitment for Colombia’s Ecopetrol, it says. The state-controlled oil company will use the funds to purchase goods and services from US providers as it develops reserves and upgrades refineries. Ecopetrol will have the opportunity to convert the commitment into specific medium- and long-term loan and guarantee transactions during the next two years, the bank says. Further details have not been negotiated, according to a US Exim spokesman. Ecopetrol, which had almost no debt of any kind one year ago, sold $1.5bn in 7.625% 2019 bonds last year in a well-received transaction, and aims to become a more frequent borrower as it funds a massive investment plan.
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GEM Fund Laps up Brazil Milk
The Global Yield Fund of New York-based private equity firm GEM has agreed to invest up to BRL120m to acquire shares of Brazil’s Laep Investments via a private placement, the latter says in a regulatory filing with Brazil’s securities commission, without specifying how many shares this could entail. GEM’s fund also has the option to acquire an additional 30m shares at BRL3.00 per share. Proceeds will be used to strengthen Laep’s working capital. Laep has a market cap of BRL409m and 162,431 outstanding shares, according to Economatica. Laep shares closed at BRL2.52 Monday. Bermuda-registered Laep controls Brazilian companies Lacteos do Brasil and holds shares in Parmalat Brasil, PRLT, Integralat – Integracao Agropecuaria, Integralat – Integracao Agro-Negocios, In Vitro do Brasil, Companhia de Alimentos Gloria, Companhia de Alimentos Ibituruna, and Mayoria. GEM has $3.4bn in assets under management.