The Dominican Republic’s Metro Country Club is preparing a $150m 2019 securitization, according to Fitch, which assigns a B minus rating to the deal. The developer is said to be starting a roadshow today expected to visit the US, Europe and LatAm, with an aim to close the transaction the week of August 13. The deal with a 3.5-year average life will be backed by flows related to the sale and operational revenues from the Las Olas, Marbella, Costa Blanca and Metro Country Club projects. Proceeds will be used 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 process, done through the MCC Finance SPV.
Category: Regions
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Nafin Ready for Domestic Bond
Mexico’s Nacional Financiera is expected to price up to MXP2bn ($150m) in 10-year bonds today in Mexico’s domestic market. The transaction is expected to price at MBonos+50bp area, according a source familiar with the process. Banamex and HSBC are managing the transaction, rated AAA on a national scale.
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Itau Adds Asian Greenshoe
Itau has added $125m to the $1.25bn 2022 Tier 2 bond priced on Monday, exercising a greenshoe option during Asian hours. The extra portion saw $800m in demand and boosted the outstanding size of the deal to $1.375bn. The Brazilian bank had priced the unsecured subordinated bond at par with a 5.500% coupon, to yield at the tight end of 5.500%-5.625% guidance, revised from mid to high 5%. Itau, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered managed the Baa2/BBB rated transaction.
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Mexican GPs Eye Increased Foreign Interest
Seeing signs of increased interest from foreign investors this year, GPs at Mexico’s private equity (PE) funds are hopeful that can translate into greater investment flows. While opening up PE investment to the country’s pension in recent years has boosted domestic participation, international capital has been slower to follow. “We have seen an increase in calls from foreign LPs who want to know Mexico. This is a change from last year when we made the calls, looking to draw attention to an underserved environment,” Jose Antonio Contreras, partner at Wamex, tells LatinFinance. Wamex closed its second fund earlier this year, raising $160m. Realizing this interest takes time, he cautions, meaning that the additional foreign LP interest may not materialize immediately. “International LPs are more curious about Mexico, and I have never seen the amount of interest as there is today. It’s not enormous but it had been very limited,” Alfredo Castellanos, managing director at Protego Asesores, tells LatinFinance. It is not going to turn Mexico into Brazil, he notes, but the increase is significant. Mexican PE funds raised $363m in 2011, according to the Latin American Venture Capital Association, while Brazilians took in $8.1bn. A cloudier economic outlook for Brazil coupled with a more positive fundamental picture for Mexico boosted by a change in government could divert more attention to the latter. Challenges remain, however, GPs explain, including a shortage of big ticket opportunities, and an environment where many family-owned businesses are still reluctant to let in outside capital. More flows into PEs may follow the strong FDI and record Bolsa levels seen this year, but the visible results should be gradual. “I see an increase first in the size of the current [domestic] funds. You will continue to see a few new players appear in the landscape. The industry will continue to grow but it will be a moderate growth,” Castellanos says, noting he does not expect an immediate
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AMX Pushes Sterling Limits, Retaps USD
America Movil (AMX) continues to fuel up on debt at attractive levels, raising $1.92bn through a GBP-denominated sale and reopening of the 10 and 30-year bonds sold earlier this month. The Mexican telecom raised GBP750m ($1.17bn) in 2041 bonds, pricing through its dollar curve and offering the region’s longest and largest sterling issuance to date. Gathering funds as it plots expansion in Europe, AMX took advantage of attractive issuing conditions to build a GBP1.8bn book. The bond priced at 97.828 with a 4.375% coupon to yield 4.511%, or Gilts+165bp. The A2/A/A minus rated issuer priced inside its dollar curve, according to a source familiar with the transaction, spotting the level at the equivalent of Libor+165bp. The 2042 dollar bonds AMX reopened Monday at UST+153bp came at the equivalent of Libor+186bp. Proceeds are marked for general corporate purposes. Deutsche Bank managed the sale. The transaction tops a Petrobras GBP700m 2026 sold in December and AMX’s own GBP650m 2030 bond in 2010, according to Dealogic data. The 29-year tenor beats the 25-year bonds issued by Barbados in 1990 and Trinidad in 1984. Not finished for the day, AMX moved on to bring its haul to nearly $2bn with the tightly-priced reopening of the pair of dollar bonds. The 3.125% coupon 2022s reopened for $350m at 102.623 to yield 2.820%, or UST+131bp, at the tight end of mid-130bp-area guidance. The 4.375% 2042 bonds reopened for $400m at 104.601 to yield 4.106%, or UST+153bp, at the tight end of UST+mid-150bp-area guidance. Said to generate more than $2bn in orders, the retaps offered little new issue premium by pricing flat to inside pre-announcement secondary levels seen the AMX 2022 (UST+130bp) and 2042 bonds (UST+157bp). “America Movil is a solid company with a healthy balance sheet, but we didn’t see value in the retap,” says an EM investor who opted out of the trade. “People need a place to put money and AMX is the bluest of the blue chips,” says a banker away from the deal. Proceeds w
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Brookfield, Abertis Eye OHL Brasil Stake
Brookfield Infrastructure and Spain’s Abertis are in discussion to create a joint venture to own a 60% interest in OHL Brasil, Brookfield says. It sees a $1.7bn value, comprised of $1.1bn in equity and $600m in assumed debt. Abertis would own 51% of the JV, and Brookfield and certain institutional partners 49%. If successful in acquiring the controlling 60% stake, the JV would be required to tender for the remaining 40% of the shares. The Brazilian road concession operator is currently controlled by Spain’s OHL. Brookfield would fund its investment in the JV with part of the proceeds from a planned $445m equity offering. Earlier this month Brookfield and partners agreed to acquire the remainder of the Vespucio Norte Express toll road in Chile from Germany’s Hochteif for EUR230m ($276m).
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Spanish PE Takes Control of Brazilian Restaurant
Spanish private equity firm Mercapital has acquired a 70% stake in the Rubaiyat restaurant group for EUR46m ($57m), it says. The investment purchase comes as the group looks to open 10 more restaurants in the next four years, including expansion into Mexico, Peru and Colombia. It currently operates three locations in Brazil and one in Spain. Rubaiyat was founded in 1951 by Spaniard Belarmino Fernandez Iglesias, who exits his position in the transaction. His son Belarmino Fernandez, chairman since 2005, remains a minority shareholder and chairman. Santander and Uria Menendez advised the Fernandez family, while Mercapital was advised by Cuatrecasas. The purchase comes from Mercapital’s $550m fund.
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Cabinet Changes Negative for Peru: Moody’s
President Ollanta Humala’s recent announcement of cabinet changes is credit negative for Baa3 rated Peru, Moody’s says in a report. The moves suggest that the government has yet to find a solution for a social conflict with regard to the Conga mining project. Humala named as prime minister human rights lawyer Juan Jimenez, replacing Oscar Valdes. “What is ultimately important from a credit standpoint is that the mining projects continue moving forward and that the protests do not affect investor confidence,” says Moody’s, which also highlights the fact that Humala has seen declining support as a result of protestor deaths under Valdes. The rating outlook is positive.
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Petrotemex Hits Majority in Tender
Mexico’s Petrotemex has received consent from holders representing $154m of its 9.50% 2014 bonds, it says, following Friday’s early acceptance deadline. The amount represents a majority. The Mexican petrochemical company is offering holders $1,100 cash per $1,000 principal amount tendered. Holders who tendered by the early date receive an extra $30. In the offer expiring August 10, the company is also soliciting consents to amend the indenture relating to the existing notes, eliminating all of the company’s restrictive covenants. JPMorgan is managing the process.
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CIE Swaps CFOs
Victor Murillo has left his post as CFO of Mexico’s Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE) to become CEO of CIE Comerical, the group’s advertising arm, CIE says. Jaime Zevada replaces Murillo, who held the job since 2001, effective immediately. Zevada had been CIE’s corporate finance director since 2002.