Category: Loans

Colombian paper and packaging company Carvajal is heard in the market with a $200m 5-year loan denominated in pesos and dollars. A $130m dollar tranche is heard paying Libor plus 162.5bp out of the box at leverage of 2.5x. A $70m COP-denominated portion will pay IPC plus 7.65%, say bankers not on the deal. ABN AMRO has the books and BNP, CITI and JPM are heard to have signed on as MLAs already. Davivienda will also be participating on the local portion, according to bank market sources. The syndication is a relatively infrequent example of a Colombian name in the international market.

Banco de Credito del Peru has successfully raised an MLA tier of banks for a $300m 3-year amortizing loan and launched the deal to retail syndication Tuesday. In order to get lenders to agree to the financing, however, BCP had to flex up the margin on the facility by 20bp, a sign of increasingly tight credit conditions in the loan market. As originally reported by LatinFinance, BCP launched in early January offering step-up pricing of Libor plus 50bp, 55bp and 65bp in years one, two and three respectively. But most of the MLA banks that participated demanded better pricing and the deal was flexed to 70bp, 75bp and 85bp. BofA, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Dresdner, Natixis and Unicredit’s Italian branch joined as MLAs, while JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and Wachovia were the original bookrunners. The deal is now being offered to retail, with tickets of $20m, $15m, and $10m offering fees of 35bp, 30bp and 25bp over Libor, respectively. Flexing is increasingly becoming a part of LatAm loan syndications. It is particularly noticeable now, as deals that were mandated and launched last year look to close amid some of the roughest market conditions the region has seen in years.

The IDB has approved a $100m 10-year loan with a 5-year grace period to Chile for integrated solid waste management. The deal is basis Libor and local counterpart financing will match the loan. The performance-driven loan is from an existing $400m conditional credit line for investment projects to support regional development. The Subsecretaria de Desarrollo Regional y Administrativo will carry out the project. The central and regional governments and municipalities are undertaking joint efforts to address the environmental and sanitary challenges posed by the growing volumes of residential solid waste in the country.

Sponsors of the $3.9bn Peru LNG project have selected Societe Generale and BBVA as MLAs to arrange a $250m B loan backed by the IDB and $800m in ECA guarantee facilities. The two banks are said to be considering bringing in additional lenders on the B loan portion. The liquefaction terminal in Peru will count on $2.25bn in financing, including the IDB B loan, a $400m IDB A loan, $150m loan from the ExIm Bank of Korea, and ECA guarantee facilities from the US ExIm Bank ($400m), ExIm Bank of Korea ($150m) and Italy’s Sace export credit agency ($250m). Peru’s Banco de Credito will arrange $350m in local bonds underwritten by Peruvian banks. SocGen is also serving as financial advisor.

Retail syndication of a $3.7bn peso-equivalent loan for Mexico’s FARAC toll road concession is moving along slowly with little fanfare. Some MLAs want to reduce and are arranging to sell down portions of their holdings to new participants. The process is being coordinated by Santander but the syndication looks more like a secondary market sale than a unified process. Some of the leads, like Banobras, are not keen on reducing their ticket sizes. Once all the banks agree on reductions, they must all execute a sale on the same day, expected to be in January. So far, only a few banks have expressed interest in a piece of the peso-denominated loan and the final number of retail participants will only be known when they all sign together. One banker close to the process says banks may get reduced by $25m and $50m, short of the expectations of some MLAs holding $150m, who were expecting to get cut by 50%. The loan is a 7-year stepping up from 165bp over Libor in year one to 185bp in years two and three, 200bp in years four and five, and 225bp in years six and seven. Santander led the transaction from its Mexico office. It was joined by bookrunners Dexia, NordLB, HSBC and Banorte and the following MLAs: Inbursa, Banobras, ING and WestLB.

Retail syndication of a $3.7bn peso-equivalent loan for Mexico’s FARAC toll road concession is moving along slowly with little fanfare. Some MLAs want to reduce and are arranging to sell down portions of their holdings to new participants. The process is being coordinated by Santander but the syndication looks more like a secondary market sale than a unified process. Some of the leads, like Banobras, are not keen on reducing their ticket sizes. Once all the banks agree on reductions, they must all execute a sale on the same day, expected to be in January. So far, only a few banks have expressed interest in a piece of the peso-denominated loan and the final number of retail participants will only be known when they all sign together. One banker close to the process says banks may get reduced by $25m and $50m, short of the expectations of some MLAs holding $150m, who were expecting to get cut by 50%. The loan is a 7-year stepping up from 165bp over Libor in year one to 185bp in years two and three, 200bp in years four and five, and 225bp in years six and seven. Santander led the transaction from its Mexico office. It was joined by bookrunners Dexia, NordLB, HSBC and Banorte and the following MLAs: Inbursa, Banobras, ING and WestLB.

Chilean retailer Cencosud launched this week a $490m 5-year amortizer which it hopes to close in January, a month expected to be very busy in the loan market. The deal steps up from Libor plus 35bp in year one to 40bp in year two, 45bp in year three and 60bp in years four and five. The loan amortizes by 25% in years three and four and the remaining 50% in year five. Participants will get fees of 25bp for a $50m ticket, 17.5bp for a $25m ticket and 12.5bp for $15m. Santander is leading the deal and BBVA and BNP have already joined as bookrunners.

Argentine aluminum company Aluar is in the market with a $150m 3.5-year loan at Libor plus 115bp, according to bankers close to the deal. The loan is secured by receivables and will look to close by the end of 2007. The facility is being led by Calyon and JPMorgan and should be conducted as a club deal, with the company’s relationship banks expected to participate.

Argentine aluminum company Aluar is in the market with a $150m 3.5-year loan at Libor plus 115bp, according to bankers close to the deal. The loan is secured by receivables and will look to close by the end of 2007. The facility is being led by Calyon and JPMorgan and should be conducted as a club deal, with the company’s relationship banks expected to participate.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA is looking to refinance a $1.125bn 1-year facility it took out in January. The existing financing, led by BNP Paribas, pays Libor plus 100bp, and PDVSA will look to refinance at similar terms, according to bankers close to the process. It was tightened from an initial 115bp launch following an upgrade. A bank meeting is scheduled for November 26 in New York and BNP is again leading the process. Given today’s market conditions, PDVSA may find it difficult to clinch the kind of pricing it would have got just a few months back. A margin above 100bp looks likely. Credit committees have become more risk averse and syndicators are finding their home offices are far more willing to veto deals with risky profiles at a time that their own cost of funds is rising. On PDVSA’s current facility ABN AMRO is an MLA with a $175m ticket, followed by arrangers BLADEX, with a $130m ticket, and Banco do Brasil and JPMorgan, each with $100m tickets, according to Dealogic. PDVSA has ratings of BB minus/B1.