Category: Mexico

Moody’s has downgraded Mexico’s Libramiento de Matehuala toll road national scale rating to Aa2.mx from Aaa.mx and placed the rating under review for further downgrade. The global scale local currency and underlying ratings remain Baa3. The downgrade follows the recent downgrade of the project’s global scale rating to Baa3 from A2. The review will consider the expectations for the project’s future financial and operating performance in light of recent historical results and how the project compares to other Baa3 rated toll roads in Mexico. Another important factor is whether the downgrade of the project ‘s insurer XL to B2 from A2 could have any direct impact on the underlying credit profile. Libramiento Matehuala is a 14 km long toll road built as an alternative to Boulevard Matehuala, which bisects the city of Matehuala, Mexico.

Oceanografia, a Mexican marine-contractor, squeezed out a $335m high-yield bond Wednesday, defying a hostile market that sent at least one other issuer home empty-handed. The company placed the 11.25% 2015 NC4 bond at 98.814 to yield 11.50% with a handful of accounts, many of them risk-hungry hedge funds, according to one buysider who did not participate. The B+ 144a Reg S offering is the first dollar bond for the contractor, which is highly dependent on Pemex. Bankers away from the deal commend Oceanografia’s ability to get its deal done, but note a Mexican B+ should command a tighter spread, all other things being equal. Initial guidance was heard inside the 11.50% launch level. One buysider says EM new issues have more often than not performed poorly lately, owing to poor placement and pricing. Proceeds will go toward paying down maturing loans. Morgan Stanley managed the sale.

Mexican mining conglomerate Penoles clinched a $530m dual currency facility to replace two classes of privately-placed notes. The 3-year bullet loan includes a $455m facility at Libor plus 85bp out of the box, and a $75m peso equivalent with the same spread over 28-day TIIE. The margin is on a leverage grid that varies between 75bp and 145bp, and the company’s leverage today is at 2x, says a banker on the deal. The notes the company took out were issued in 1997 and 2006, and carry coupons of 8.39% and 6.55%. JPMorgan led the syndication but took an MLA title alongside BBVA, BofA, Standarch Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui, EDC, BNP, SocGen, Scotia, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Intesa, HSBC, Santander and ING. No league table credit was assigned for the deal.

Mexican maritime logistics provider TMM has placed the third service contract securitization from its MXP9bn program. In the largest issue to date from the program, it priced MXP4.39bn in 2028 ABS at the TIIE plus 219bp. The notes, rated AA on a local scale, are backed by receivables from TMM’s service contract. Value Casa de Bolsa managed the transaction. The issue follows a similar MXP1.55 2028 placement in May which priced at 195bp.

The second road concession from Mexico’s Fonadin infrastructure fund – commonly known in the market as the Farac III package – will feature a smaller portion of greenfield roads than its predecessor. “The third [Farac, or second Foandin] package will be in between the first two,” in terms of the amount of new build required, Fonadin director Federico Patino tells LatinFinance. He declined to estimate the exact percentage. The government expects to officially announce the concession, containing roads in the northeastern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, in the fourth quarter. The official says the amount of greenfield versus brownfield for the approximately six concessions was planned in advance, and the third package’s total was not influenced by the success of the first two. The second “Pacific” package incorporates three existing roads and five new projects to be constructed.

Mexico’s MXP270bn Fonadin infrastructure fund is set to help coming toll road concession winners battle volatile market conditions. The recently established fund will provide credit to concessionaires in the absence of capital market funding. “The financial markets have changed [since last year’s FARAC financing], but on the positive side there is now the Fonadin in place to mitigate some of the problems in the markets,” Fonadin director Federico Patino tells LatinFinance. He points to wider spreads and the reduced clout of monolines as the biggest challenges to the winning bidders getting financing for the projects. The government hopes to name the winner of Fonadin’s first road package – known in the market as FARAC II – in October or November, he says. Fonadin is working with the IDB and World Bank to offer the winning bidder with a “synthetic monoline” to improve the risk profile. He says the fund also expects to provide some subordinated debt financing to the project. The key for the fund is supporting the project’s rating to encourage lenders, particularly Mexico’s highly liquid pension funds, he says. The equity component, likely higher than for Farac I, will be less of a challenge given the strength of the bidders.

Sinca Inbursa, the investment arm of Mexican mogul Carlos Slim’s clongomerate has agreed to purchase 15% of Gas Natural Mexico, for MXP760m, according to the company’s Spanish parent Gas Natural. Gas Natural owns 86.75% of its Mexican subsidiary, while Spain’s Iberdrola controls 13.25%. The transaction is pending government approval. Gas Natural Mexico has 1.1m costumers in Mexico and distributes gas in nine states.

Mass transit is an important subsector of infrastructure for development in Mexico, alongside water and waste treatment, say Mexican development bank officials. Guadalajara is looking at setting up a bus system similar to Mexico City’s Metrobus. In such a system – modeled after one in the Brazilian city of Curitiba – large buses travel swiftly through designated lanes, operating like a subway line where building an underground route would be too costly.