Fitch has upgraded Alestra’s credit ratings to BB from BB minus, it says, based on an improved financial profile. The agency expects the Mexican telecom will have the ability to refinance the maturity of the $200m senior notes due in 2014, based on its proven access to the local bank and capital markets and the support and bank relationships of its parent Grupo Alfa. It also notes positive operational performance, stable and predictable cash flow generation, historical positive free cash flow and sound credit metrics. Alestra’s leverage level of 1.3x for the 12 months to June 30 is “moderate,” and Fitch expects 1.5x-2.0x over the long term. The outlook is stable. Alestra is rated BB/BB/Ba3, and was also recently upgraded by Moody’s and S&P.
Category: Regions
KOF Readies Acquisition Debt Takeout
Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) is readying fixed-income investor meetings ahead of what would be an international bond sale replacing acquisition debt. The A/A2/A minus Mexican bottler will meet accounts in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Chicago November 5-7. Escorted by Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, HSBC and Mitsubishi-UFJ, KOF may follow with a deal if market conditions permit. The largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products closed this week the 100% all-cash acquisition of Brazil’s Industria Brasileira de Bebidas (Spaipa), at an enterprise value of $1.86bn, and was readying a $1.5bn 5-year loan led by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Mizuho and HSBC in September. Spaipa was the second of two purchases, following a $448m purchase of Brazilian Companhia Fluminense de Refrigerantes closed in August. Fitch estimates that KOF’s total debt-to-Ebitda and net debt-to-Ebitda will increase on a pro-forma basis to approximately 2.0x and 1.6x, respectively, by the year-end. In June, CFO Hector Trevino told LatinFinance that KOF would look tap the bond markets before US rates go up. The company has $300m of bank debt maturing this year. Its last bond was a $603m-equivalent domestic 10-year in May.
Lender Prints MXP Bond
The Mexican subsidiary of Nissan-Renault’s NR Finance vehicle financing arm has priced a MXP3.0bn ($227m) domestic bond, according to a person familiar with the transaction. The 2016 priced at TIIE+30bp, flat to guidance, and received 1.19x demand. Proceeds will be used to substitute debt and for general corporate purposes. BBVA Bancomer and Bank of America Merrill Lynch managed the transaction, rated AAA on a national scale. NR Finance Mexico provides financing services for the acquisition of Nissan and Renault automobiles in Mexico. The issuer was previously in the domestic market in March 2012 when it raised a MXP2.5bn 2015 paying TIIE+50bp.
Maxcom Gets New CEO
Maxcom Telecomunicaciones has hired Enrique Ibarra as CEO, the Mexican telecom says. He spent the last eight years at the Mexican Bolsa’s Bursatec subsidiary, and has previously worked at Ixe Grupo Financiero and Pegaso PCS. Maxcom completed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States in October.
Middle Easterner Targets Afore Cash
Dubai-based investor Abraaj Group is preparing a fund for Mexico’s certificado de desarrollo de capital (CCD) market, according to regulatory documents. The size and timing for the 10-year fund remain to be determined. The fund will target private equity investment in “mid-size” Mexican businesses in need of growth capital, following the model of the Aureos Latin America Fund. Abraaj bought Aureos Captial, whose small and mid-size investment tickets usually fall in the $0.5m-$15.0m range, in 2012. A parallel private equity fund may be created to invest alongside the CCD funds. The return structure is expected to be principal plus an 8% preferred return, before distributing according to the 80%-20% model typical of private equity. Santander is managing the transaction. Abraaj manages $7.5bn globally, and its LatAm operation is managed from Mexico City, and led by Erik Petersen and Miguel Olea.
Navistar Preps Domestic Retap
Mexico’s Navistar is preparing a MXP800m ($61m) reopening of the 2018 floating-rate bonds it sold earlier in the year, with pricing scheduled for late November. The Mexican unit of the US vehicle manufacturer originally placed MXP1bn at TIIE+150bp. Proceeds will before general corporate purposes. Actinver is managing the transaction, rated AAA on a national scale.
Aval Prefers Domestic Equity Route
Colombia’s Grupo Aval is preparing to sell COP2.4trn ($1.27bn) in shares through an equity follow-on in the domestic market, it says. Given the conglomerate’s recent M&A activity, such a sale had been expected by the markets, though perhaps through the SEC process for which it registered earlier this year. The plan to issue in the US market will be postponed as Aval focuses first on this local sale, a spokeswoman says, noting that banks have not yet been hired. Aval does not give additional details. Corficolombiana, part of Aval, would be expected to manage the deal, as it did Aval’s last domestic equity transaction along with Corredores Asociados. A tap of the more familiar domestic investor base, where Aval can anchor with preemptive rights, might allow for the issuer to better control its pricing, say ECM bankers observing the process. “This announcement is a negative for Aval’s shares. Further, given the high trading and forward multiples of [Aval] today, the primary market could demand a considerable discount,” Credicorp says, noting a need for funds to support a busy M&A agenda. Aval completed in April the purchase of BBVA’s Horizonte Colombian pension operation for $530m, and is working on closing the $411m purchase of Guatemala’s Reformador and the $646m purchase of BBVA Panama, both expected to finalize as soon as November. An equity sale might be good for Aval’s bondholders, however, Credicorp says. “The recent M&A activity was constraining severely Grupo Aval’s unconsolidated cash position. This issuance then will improve the conglomerate’s financial health, and lowers the likelihood of further debt offer,” it says. Aval’s last equity deal was a $1.17bn-equivalent domestic follow-on in 2011. It had been seeking the SEC deal since, but has been content funding itself in the international bond market, including $1.6bn last year and $500m this year through its Banco de Bogota subsidiary. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi and Morgan Stanley had been hired in asso
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