Ecuador has signed a $571m loan with China’s Eximbank to fund the Sopladora hydroelectric project. The 15-year loan will carry a 6.35% interest rate and a 4 year grace period. The loan represents 85% of the total cost of $670m required to fund the project. The 487MW project is one of several being built by the country.
Category: Loans
Posted inDaily Brief
MMX Seeks Loans, Financial Advisors
Brazilian miner MMX has agreed to hire financial advisors for its Serra Azul project, while also seeking up to $290m in short-term BRL-denominated loans and credit lines. The board has authorized the company to secure up to $150m equivalent in short-term loans and another $140m in short-term credit lines. MMX, which is controlled by Brazilian magnate Eike Batista, has said it will invest BRL3.5bn ($2.24bn) to expand the Serra Azul project by building an iron ore processing plan and a railroad terminal.
Posted inMagazine
Can LatAm boost Chinese Investments?
Chinese companies want to invest in Latin America, but access to cheap financing can be an uphill struggle.
Posted inMagazine
Junk Jumps, Dives
LatAm corporates, and specifically high-yield issuance, continued to be the dominant theme in May and June after initial optimism about single B borrowers’ ability to tap DCM quickly faded in […]
Posted inMagazine
Tilting at Windmills
Mexico’s wind energy market is potentially lucrative. But a lack of government commitment and insufficient transmission capacity could stall its development.
Posted inDaily Brief
AquaChile Prepays Debt
AquaChile has prepaid $163m of $406m in outstanding debt and is looking to refinance the remaining $243m through a 7-year loan that comes with a 2-year grace period and initially pays 6-month Libor+120bp. The Chilean utility does not say which bank is providing the loan.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico Leads LatAm Syndicated Loans
LatAm syndicated loan volume reached $18.7bn during 1H, up 22% on the $15.3bn recorded during the comparable 2010 period, according to Dealogic. That remains below the market’s last high-water mark in 2007 when the region saw s $30bn in loans for H1. Mexico topped the nationality ranking with $7.9bn and accounted for 42% of the region’s total volume in 1H 2011. Brazil followed closely in second place with $7.1bn and a 38% share. The spike in Mexican volumes can partly be attributed to telecom America Movil’s $4.1bn refinancing facility, which was signed on May 12 and was the largest LatAm corporate loan since July 2007. The average tenor of LatAm syndicated loans totaled five years in 1H 2011, on par with 1H 2010. Average pricing fell to Libor+174bp from 355bp during the same 2010 period. As of the end of 2Q 2011, the LatAm syndicated loan market had total outstanding debt of $203.7bn, with $14.9bn due to mature during the remainder of 2011 and $22.4bn by the end of 2012.
Posted inDaily Brief
PDVSA Signs Loan with Itochu
PDVSA has signed an agreement for a $750m 15 year loan with Japan’s Itochu. Itochu has also signed a 15 year off-take agreement for PDVSA’s Santa Barbara crude oil. JBIC and several commercial banks insured by NEXI have formed a syndicate. The loan to the special purpose company Santa Ines will be extended to PDVSA, which will repay its debt by supplying oil and petroleum products from Venezuela with the off-taking arrangements.
Posted inDaily Brief
Pemex, Mexichem Form Vinyl JV
Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex and petrochemical Mexichem plan to form a $556m vinyl chloride joint venture. Mexichem says it hopes to increase its production of vinyl chloride by 24,000 tons in the first year of operation, 146,000 in the second year and 217,000 in the third. Mexichem is thought to be seeking up to $3bn through a 3-5 year revolving loan facility for targets in the chlorine, fluorine and high-end plastics sectors.
Posted inDaily Brief
Peru Secures $300m CAF Loan
Regional development bank CAF has extended an up to $300m 9-year loan to the government of Peru to help finance an electric transportation system. The loan carries a 3-year grace period and pays Libor+110bp during the first 8 years and jumps to +210bp in year 9.