Mexico’s Banco Compartamos is preparing to issue up to MXP1.5bn ($112m) in the domestic bond market in late August, according to a banker on the deal. The microlender plans 5-year floating-rate bonds for its fourth issuance under a MXP6bn program. Bancomer, Banamex and HSBC are managing the sale, rated AAA/AA on a national scale. Compartamos last visited the local bond market in August 2011, when it sold MXP2bn in 2016 domestic bonds at TIIE+85bp.
Category: Regions
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Colombian Telecom Signs Loan
Colombia’s UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones has finalized a 10-year bank credit for up to COP400bn ($223m), it says. The facility pays the DTF+3.90%. Funds are expected to be used for the business’s growth and expansion plans. BBVA, Bancolombia, Banco de Bogota Banco Popular and Santander provided the credit. The borrower is rated AAA on a national scale.
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VC Partners Close Brazilian Fund
Sao Paulo-based venture capital firm Redpoint e.ventures has closed a $130m, Brazil-focused fund aimed at investing in startups. The firm is a JV between US-based venture capital firms e.ventures, formerly known as BV Capital, and Redpoint. The fund, its first is managed by founding partners Yann de Vries and Anderson Thees. The fund targets investments in the areas of consumer Internet, e-commerce, mobile, media and cloud services. The fund already includes 5 active investments – Viajanet, Grupo Xango, 55Social, Shoes4you and Sophie & Juliete – that the two firms had made together prior to the creation of the JV.
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Banco do Brasil Waits on Yen Bond
Banco do Brasil has opted to wait on a yen-denominated bond sale and revisit pricing efforts after the scheduled quarterly earnings report on August 14, according to sources familiar with the matter. Though the timing had been unclear, the sale had been heard aiming to price as early as last week, with 3 and 5-year tranches likely planned. The bank has selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Banco do Brasil, JPMorgan, Mizuho and SMBC Nikko for the so-called “euro-yen” deal, which would represent a departure from LatAm issuers’ preference for the Japanese Samurai sales of recent years. The Brazilian bank issued $24m-equivalent in yen-denominated bonds in 1995, according to Dealogic.
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New El Salvador Bond Not Imminent: Nomura
An $800m international bond platform from El Salvador now being debated in its government is unlikely to lead to imminent issuance, Nomura says in a report. The president is lobbying congress to approve the issuance, in order to have it in place should investors exercise a put option on El Salvador’s 2023 bonds in January. The shop considers the exercise of the option “low-probability.” The issuance could also be used to retire shorter-term local debt. Even if the congress quickly authorizes the debt issuance, which is unclear at this point, the sovereign is unlikely to quickly come to market. “We expect them to do so towards the end of the year, as they seem unwilling to issue the Eurobonds too much in advance of the January 2013 event,” Nomura says.
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Colombian Bank Makes DCM Debut
Despite selloffs in many of the world’s equity markets Monday, Colombia’s Banco GNB Sudameris was able to emerge and price a $250m debut international bond. Investors demanded $900m of the subordinated Tier 2 bond, demonstrating a continued appetite for Colombian paper and allowing the bank to improve its capital structure. The Ba1/BB 2022 priced at par with a 7.50% coupon to yield in line with 7.5%-area guidance, and close to the midpoint of initial 7.25%-8.00% investor price interest. The bonds traded up 1.0 points in the grey, according to a trader. Bankers on and away from the deal comped the new bond against fellow Colombian bank Davivenda’s (Ba1/BB+) 10-year Tier 2, trading to yield 5.60%-5.65% Monday, with GNB pricing at a significantly wider spread due to the difference in systematic importance between Davivienda, as the third-largest Colombian bank, and Sudameris, the tenth-largest. The largest tickets were heard allocated to institutional accounts, followed by private banking, with a small portion allocated to hedge funds. The bank is using proceeds to improve its capital ratios and general corporate purposes. Bank of America Merrill Lynch managed the 144A/RegS transaction, which followed a roadshow in Latin America, Europe and the US. Last month, GNB agreed to acquire HSBC’s operations in Colombia, Uruguay, Peru and Paraguay, for $400m. The bank raised $130m in equity at the beginning of this year and plans to raise $70m before the end of 2012. Peru’s Coazucar is scheduled to finish a roadshow Wednesday, and possibly issue a $300m 2022 bond. The Oaxaca II and IV wind farms are also touring, ahead of a combined $332m issue.
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Colombian Bank Plans Domestic Issue
Colombia’s Banco de Occidente plans to issue COP300bn ($168m) in the domestic bond market, according to a source familiar with the bank’s plans. The unit of Grupo Aval is expected to choose from a 3-year DTF-linked tranche, and 10-year and 15-year IPC-linked tranches. InterBolsa is leading the deal, which is expected on August 9.
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Comex Launches Loan
Mexico’s Comex has launched a 5-year MXP5.36bn ($402m) amortizing term loan and 3-year MXP700m revolver. The transaction has already been funded, and is expected to close by mid-August. Pricing for the Mexican paint maker is tied to a total debt-to-Ebitda leverage grid, and is heard at TIIE+325bp out of the box, with 200bp for below 2.0x, 225bp for 2.0x-2.5x, 325bp for 2.5x-3.0x, and 375bp for 3.0x-3.5x. Lead arrangers, arrangers and co-arranger spots will be available, with amounts between MXP300m and MXP800m, and fees between 45bp and 80bp. Funds are expected to be used for debt refinancing. HSBC, Citi Banamex and BBVA Bancomer are joint bookrunners.
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Mexico Holds Rates
Mexico’s central bank has elected to again hold interest rates at 4.5%, in line with expectations. Its post-meeting commentary leaves Barclays wondering, given monetary trends aimed at managing the economic slowdown, “what domestic and external conditions will need to prevail in order to adjust the monetary position.” Goldman Sachs points out that the bank again “maintained a broadly neutral bias” and kept its forward-looking paragraph the same, saying that “going forward the MPC will carefully monitor all the determinants/drivers of inflation, as their behavior may make it convenient to turn the monetary policy stance more or less restrictive, depending on the scenario that emerges.”
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Vesta Thinks Ahead to Additional Equity
Following last week’s $250m-equivalent IPO, Mexico’s Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta could eventually return to the equity market to raise approximately $200m more, CEO Lorenzo Berho Corona tells a small group of reporters in New York. The industrial real estate specialist would likely wait about a year and a half before returning to the markets, and would also be open to domestic and international debt. He says Vesta is satisified with last week’s sale, in which investor demand was aided by increasing optimism for Mexico’s economy following this year’s change in government. “The demand we found was pretty much on the lower side of the range,” Berho says, noting they were much more concerned with the quality of the book than with size. Vesta priced at MXP19.00, versus a MXP19.00-21.00 range. He says the books were distributed 68% to Mexican investors and 32% to international buyers. He notes that the transaction received 1.4x demand, which is “pretty good for these days.” Despite concern in the international markets, he notes investors find Mexico attractive and that Vesta still sees room in Mexico to grow. “We see that the opportunities are really just starting,” he says of Mexico’s commercial real estate sector.