Category: Loans

Chilean pulp and paper company CMPC has launched a 5-year bullet loan of up to $250m to a group of relationship banks. The deal offers Libor plus 55bp, a seemingly thin margin given the cost of funding for banks today, though considerably wider than what the Chilean borrower might have achieved a year ago. Bankers away from the deal speculate CMPC will succeed in raising the funds, though it may have to resort to leaning on banks. The deal is heard underwritten for $150m by leads Santander, BBVA and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi. Another $100m is being targeted at other relationship banks. EDC is heard to have taken a $35m MLA ticket.

El Tejar, the Argentine agricultural company and land developer, is closing in on a $150m A/B FMO facility. The $30m 7-year A loan pays Libor plus 490bp, while a $120m B loan, syndicated by Standard Bank, offers Libor plus 450bp, say bankers away from the deal. The latter is out to participants.

Argentina’s Panamerican Energy is set to close on a $150m 3-year amortizing loan. The transaction pays Libor plus 225bp, say executives close to the process. JPMorgan, Calyon and ABN AMRO led the facility, with Itau acting as MLA and local intermediary. Itau has a presence in Argentina and loan representatives in both Buenos Aires and Chile.

Peruvian development bank Cofide has launched a $150m loan to general syndication. The deal is a 3-year amortizing step-up with an average life of 2.5 years. It pays Libor plus 150.0bp in year one, 162.5bp in year two and 175.0bp in year three, with commitment fees of 25bp-35bp depending on ticket size. Average tickets are heard at $10m. Barclays and Standard Chartered have joint books. Cofide has a number of social programs it is seeking to fund. It is 90% owned by the Peruvian government, rated BBB minus by Fitch and BB+ by the other two agencies. CAF has a 2% stake.

CFE, the Mexican state-owned power utility, had the option to flex the pricing on its $2bn 3-year loan, launched at Libor plus 40bp. But it refused to do so, insisting instead that it could raise the money with its relationship banks. Some of those banks either left or reduced their commitments, while the five-bank bookrunning group, which pledged a combined $1.25bn – $250m each – apparently also politely declined to increase its commitment level, despite being asked. CFE resorted to marketing the deal directly to potential participants, playing its already worn and tattered relationship card. “This is good for all banks to see that to be successful, a deal needs to be properly priced to clear today’s market,” says a banker involved in the syndication. Whether it is successful or not, CFE has provided a clear example of how changing markets and the expectations of some high grade borrowers are at odds. Something has to give, and in this case, CFE chose to raise less over setting a precedent of wider pricing. “The market flex is new culture that needs to be implemented,” said a banker away from the process. The borrower may walk away from this deal with a bruised ego, having realized its ability to pressure lenders has been weakened.

Brazil’s Grupo Gerdau is preparing to raise $500m in the loan market for an unknown acquisition. The facility, being shopped to MLAs, has a 3-year tenor and offers Libor plus 125bp, say bankers away from the transaction. Last Fall, Gerdau clinched a $2.75bn acquisition facility that included a 5-year working capital piece at Libor plus 125bp, as well as 5- and 6-year trade tranches at 100bp and 125bp over. The new facility is heard to be a separate initiative, and its syndication will overlap with the company’s $2bn equity offering in the US and Brazil, set to price on April 24. Citi is leading the loan financing, while JPMorgan and Itau BBA have books on the equity offering.

Argentina’s Panamerican Energy is raising a $160m working capital facility via Calyon, JPMorgan and ABN AMRO. The 3-year loan pays Libor plus 225bp and is out to MLAs. Also in Argentina, Pluspetrol is heard in the market with a $100m FMO A/B loan. ABN AMRO has been hired to lead the syndication of the B portion of that facility.

Moody’s has assigned a global scale, local currency rating of Baa1 and a rating of Aaa on its local scale to the class A-1 and class A-2 certificates of the Mexico Auto Loan Trust, Deutsche Bank Irrevocable Trust F/781 that were issued by Deutsche Mexico acting solely in its capacity as trustee. The agency also rates the Class B certificates of the same offering as Ba2 and A2 locally. “Interest and principal to certificate holders will be primarily payable with cash flow from vehicle loan contracts originated by the Mexican financial arm of a car manufacturer and assigned to the trust, which was established under the laws of Mexico,” the agency says. “The ratings are based upon the credit quality of the pool, and credit enhancement in the form of subordination, overcollateralization, a reserve fund, and a yield supplement account.”

The Inter-American Corporation (IIC), a member of the IDB, has raised $50m via a 3-year syndication via Mizuho. The lender claims the so-called “Ninja Loan” marks the first time a LatAm-based issuer has raised funds among a small group of Japanese banks, including the Tokyo branch of BBVA. Pricing on the deal was not disclosed, but a person close to the process said the margin is comparable to what a AA rated US corporate would raise in today’s market. Mizuho has done Japanese syndications for US clients in the past and aims to increase its pipeline of LatAm deals, a director at the bank told LatinFinance earlier this year.