Brazil is finally doing something about its unsophisticated and illiquid corporate debt market, targeting foreign investor participation. But the buyside wants more.
Category: Economy & Policy
Posted inMagazine
Revamping Brazilian Airports
With one eye on the 2014 World Cup and the other on Congress, the new president is hatching a master plan to renovate Brazil’s overcrowded, overburdened and trouble-ridden airport system.
Posted inMagazine
Rebranding Mexican Mortgages
Mexican mortgages face an image problem after a rough few years. Getting the sector functioning again is essential to
attracting sufficient funds to tackle a looming crisis.
Posted inMagazine
Pemex: Paying Up For Production
Pemex has been making changes to try and resuscitate oil output. They may not be enough to fully exploit Mexico’s potentially huge untapped resources.
Posted inMagazine
Mexican Economy in Sweet Spot
Mexico’s macroeconomic environment is in good shape, but reforms are required to draw further investment. The drug war weighs on GDP expansion.
Posted inMagazine
Peru Cement Industry Booms
Peru’s solid economic performance puts pressure on both government and private sector to ramp up infrastructure projects to keep the boom going. Building material demand is surging.
Posted inMagazine
Peru Project Finance: Make it Rain
Odebrecht is using an auction structure to bring private-public financing to a Peruvian infrastructure project. The financing format may be used elsewhere in LatAm.
Posted inDaily Brief
Elektra Prices MXP2bn in Local Bonds
Grupo Elektra priced MXP2bn in 3-year bonds at 300bp over TIIE, in line with guidance, according to a banker on the deal. Demand for the Mexican financial and retail company’s bonds reached 2x oversubscription, he says. Investors included private banks, mutual funds, bank treasuries and some insurance companies. Investors say the pricing was attractive. “It is a well known name and the company is doing well,” says one Mexico City-based investor. The bonds are rated A on a national scale by Fitch. Proceeds will be used to pay upcoming maturities, for working capital and to fund expansion, the banker says. The market had originally expected 2 separate transactions, with MXP1bn 3-year bonds expected to be issued via Actinver and another MXP1bn in 3-year bonds via Inbursa. The lead banker declines to comment on why the change took place. Elektra issued MXP1bn 3-year bonds, also via Actinver, in November, priced at TIIE plus 300bp.
Posted inDaily Brief
Caribbean Hotel Pipeline Slumps
The pipeline of new hotel openings in the Caribbean is expected to weaken in 2011 and 2012 in comparison to 2010, Lodging Econometrics says in a report. The firm notes that this year, only 12 new hotels with a total 1,383 rooms are expected to open in the region. In 2012, activity is expected to drop to an extra 7 hotels with a total of 809 rooms. The pipeline has been weakening every year since 2008, the US-based hospitality research firm says. In 2008, 22 hotels with 5,848 rooms opened, while in 2009, some 25 hotels opened, but they had 5,443 rooms. Last year, 16 hotels with 3,129 rooms opened. “The Caribbean continues to struggle to regain footing,” the report notes. “The Caribbean pipeline is in a bottoming formation and will decline further as new project announcements into the pipeline are at the lowest Lodging Econometrics has recorded in the past 3 years,” it adds. The study includes all of the Caribbean islands and does not include countries like Guyana or Belize, which are sometimes considered part of the region.
Posted inDaily Brief
Famsa Local Bond Prices In-line with Guidance
Mexico’s Grupo Famsa on Friday issued MXP1bn in 3-year bonds, at TIIE +280bp, in-line with guidance, according to a banker on the deal. Private banks, treasuries and mutual funds were the main participants in the BBB rated deal. Proceeds will be used to repay an 18-month bond for the same amount that was issued in 2009. Ixe was the lead bank on the deal.