Peru’s Maestro is heard preparing what would be its debut sale in the international bond markets, and hiring Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan for the transaction. Additional details of the hardware and home improvement retailer’s deal are unclear, though recent first-timers of its size from Peru have generally raised up to $500m at up to 10 years. Created in 1993, Meastro operates approximately 20 stores, mostly in Lima but with an expansion plan for other parts of the country.
Category: Regions
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Bachoco Roadshows MXP Debut
Mexican poultry producer Industrias Bachoco is roadshowing this week for a MXP1.5bn ($114m) transaction that would be its first in the domestic bond market. The notes will pay a spread to the 28-day TIIE, and have a tenor of 3 or 5 years. The deal is expected to be rated AA/AA+ with proceeds destined to refinance existing debt. Banamex is leading the transaction. Industrias Bachoco operates poultry production and distribution facilities throughout Mexico. Aside from breeding, processing and marketing poultry, it also produces and distributes eggs, swine, and animal feed. Last year it acquired privately-held Arkansas-based poultry producer OK Industries for $95m.
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Facileasing Plots Local Debt
Mexico’s Facileasing has filed to issue debt in the domestic market, according to a regulatory filing. Transaction details were not disclosed for what would be the second issuance under a MXP10bn ($761m) program. In February, Facileasing priced a MXP500m 2015 at TIIE+70bp, marking the fleet leasing company’s first bond offering since being acquired by BBVA Bancomer. BBVA Bancomer is managing the new sale. Facileasing is rated AAA on a national scale.
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Rubiales Ups Port Investment
Pacific Rubiales has purchased an additional $50m stake in Pacific Infrastructure, it says. The Canadian and Colombia-listed oil company purchased 50m shares at $1.00 per share. The addition follows an initial $38m purchase in March of shares in the Panama-based developer of the Puerto Bahia port complex in Cartagena and a pipeline linking it with Covenas. Pacific Rubiales now holds 44.1% of Pacific Infrastructure, and has the option to purchase $70m more at the same terms.
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Geo Sounds Out Huaso Market
Mexico’s Corporacion Geo has finished a series of investor meetings in Chile as it determines if it is the right time to issue bonds in the so-called huaso market. With a $100m-eqivalent bond shelf recently approved, the homebuilder could look to issue in the coming weeks if markets look attractive, say sources familiar with the process. It finished meeting investors last week. Geo is targeting 10-year UF-denominated bonds in what would be its first deal in Chile and the first bond from a foreign issuer in Chile, since 2010. Proceeds would be used for refinancing debt, but there’s no rush to get it done, says a person familiar with the company’s plans, noting that timing is flexible. Santander is managing the deal, rated BBB/BBB on a national scale.
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Petrotemex Gets 56% in Tender
Mexico’s Petrotemex has received acceptance from holders of $154m, or 56.06%, of its 9.50% 2014 bonds targeted a tender offer, it says. The Mexican petrochemical company’s acceptance rate at the August 10 deadline was only slightly higher than the 55.84% it had at the July 27 early deadline. Petrotemex offered holders $1,100 cash per $1,000 principal amount tendered. Holders who tendered by the early date received an extra $30 per $1,000.The company also obtained consents to amend the indenture relating to the existing notes, eliminating all of the company’s restrictive covenants. JPMorgan managed the process. The 2014 bonds were originally sold for $200m in 2009, and later reopened for $75m that same year, at an 8.832%yield. The bonds were trading at 111.5-112.5 in price Monday, according to a trader.
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CFR Buys Big in Colombia
CFR Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire Colombia’s Laboratorio Franco Colombiano (Lafrancol), it says, in a $562m buy that is uncharacteristically large for the expanding Chilean, and makes it the largest pharmaceuticals company in Colombia. The deal, to be funded with cash and an unspecified amount of debt, is another example of dominant Chilean players expanding across the Andes, with CFR already claiming the position as the largest pharmaceutical company in Chile and Peru. “This acquisition is very significant, and we believe is the last one for CFR’s expected inorganic expansion plan. The acquisition is actually the largest one in the history of Latin America in the pharmaceutical industry. The Colombian market is huge, with more than 48m people, and Lafrancol is the largest laboratory in the country,” Javier Gunther, equity analyst at IMTrust, tells LatinFinance. CFR had been making smaller buys, but a larger one was expected given what the company said about its plans at the time of last year’s IPO, Gunther says. The transaction represents 2.8x EV/revenue, according to a person familiar with the transaction, based on about $200m in annual revenue, noting that the multiple is in line with recent deals in LatAm. Multiples have gone up in the sector, says the person, but that makes sense given the growth opportunities. In the case of CFR, its purchase brings cost and revenue synergies and expands beyond CFR’s previously small Colombia footprint. Higher multiples also mean families likely give more consideration to selling their businesses. He expects continued consolidation in LatAm as larger pharmaceutical companies continue seek growth in fragmented markets. The sale is expected to close before the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals. CFR was advised by Deutsche Bank and law firm Honorato, Russi & Eguiguren, and Lafrancol was advised by Estrategias Corporativas and law firm Brigard & Urrutia. CFR raised $368m-equivalent in an IPO last year, and last
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Helm Weighs Options
Owners of Colombia’s Helm Bank are in talks about alternatives for the bank, the bank says, responding to recent speculation regarding a sale. The institution “is continuing in the process of evaluating different alternatives for the bank with none having yet resulted in a definitive transaction,” it says. With several Colombian FIG assets changing hands at high multiples this year, Helm has been the target of many acquisition rumors in the local and international press, most recently by Chile’s Corpbanca, who bought Santander Colombia in December for $1.16bn.
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Mexico to Issue $2bn-plus in Exchange
Mexico plans to issue $2.19bn in reopened 2022, 2044 and century bonds as a result of the tender offer in which it accepted $1.88bn principal in 15 series of existing notes, its government says. The swap increased the average life of the debt by more than two years, and lowered the costs. The sovereign expects to issue approximately $559m of reopened 2022s, $963m of reopened 2044s and $670m of re-opened century bonds. It will also pay $19m of cash to accepting holders, with the premiums varying depending on which specific bonds the holder is exchanging. The sovereign accepted $522m in six series of old 2013-2017 bonds in exchange for reopened 2022 bonds, $792m in13 series of 2013-2040 bonds in exchange for reopened 2044 notes and $568m in 14 series of 2013-2040 bonds in exchanged for reopened century bonds. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs managed the process.
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Metro Postpones Bond
The Dominican Republic’s Metro Country Club has decided to postpone a planned $150m 2019 bond, according to a banker managing the sale. The developer was aiming to price the securitization this week, following release of 14%-area price guidance last week. A need to update financial statements with fresh 2Q results, as numbers went stale Monday, and to give investors more time to analyze the credit were among the reasons for the wait. The transaction has a 3.5-year average life and is backed by flows related to the sale and operational revenues from the Las Olas, Marbella, Costa Blanca and Metro Country Club projects. “My guess is that they didn’t find the investor base and the price signal was wrong,” says a New York-based EM investor who opted out citing robust credit risks. Proceeds were destined to refinance $75m in existing debt, as well as complete current projects and fund the acquisition of land for new ones. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is managing the transaction, rated B2/B minus and done through the MCC Finance vehicle. Relying on private equity for funding, Metro tried a $110m debt placement in 2007 and again in 2008, and also attempted a 5-year $75m Reg D private placement in 2010.