Colombian conglomerate Carvajal Internacional is exchanging a 60% stake in Colombiana de Moldeados (Comolsa) with local investment firm Fama for a 37% stake in Peru-based Peruana de Moldeados (Pamolsa). Oscar Dario Morales, vice president of finance at Carvajal, tells LatinFinance his firm will hold about 90% of Pamolsa and Fama will own about 95% of Comolsa. Morales says terms are still being discussed. Pamolsa has annual sales of about $65m-$70m a year, while Comolsa’s annual sales are around $45m-$50m, he adds. Morales says that Comolsa, which produces cardboard packaging, is not part of Carvajal’s core business, while Pamolsa, which makes plastic packaging, is. In a separate transaction, Carvajal sold a 63% stake in Musicar, a music provider, another non-core unit for about $5m, Morales says. Fellow Musicar shareholders Caracol Radio and Valorem, which owned the remainder of the company, also sold stakes to a group of investors that includes former Carvajal and Musicar management, Morales says. Musicar accounts for less than 1% of Carvajal’s revenue and the deals were privately negotiated, Morales says.
Category: Regions
Isagen Plans November Bond Sale
Colombian power company Isagen says it plans to issue COP400bn ($219m) in local bonds to finance development of the Hidrosogamoso hydroelectric project. Hidrosogamoso will generate 820MW and increase Isagen’s capacity by 43%. Terms of the deal and leading banks have not been disclosed and company officials could not be reached for comment. In September 2009, Isagen sold COP450bn in inflation-linked bonds in a debut placement on the domestic market to raise proceeds for Hidrosogamoso, which is expected to require an investment of $1.4bn.
PDVSA Sells $3bn Bond
PDVSA says it has issued $3bn in new 2017 bonds, getting nearly $7bn in demand from 105,307 orders. The B+ 8.5% bond priced at par. As with previous government offerings, the offer is directed at individuals and businesses with the “sector productivo nacional,” what Venezuela calls businesses that are strategically important the nation’s economy and investors will be allowed to buy the dollar-denominated bonds with Bolivars at a VEB4.30 per dollar rate. Separately, PDVSA will offer holders of its 0% 2011 bond new 8% of 2013 bonds at an exchange rate of $1,125 per $1,000 if done by October 28, and $1,095 per $1,000 if done later. Citi ran the new issue and is managing the liability management.
Petrominerales Acquires 25% Stake in Peru Block
Oil company Petrominerales has acquired an additional 25% stake in Block 126 in east central Peru from Veraz Petroleum, increasing its stake to 80%, according to a spokesman. Petrominerales will pay Veraz $6.8m in cash and an $8.0m bonus when certain production levels are achieved. In addition, it will grant Veraz a 20% working interest in Blocks 161 and 141. Both Petrominerales and Veraz are Canada-based companies with operations in LatAm.
Nexxus Close to CCD Retap
Mexican private equity manager Nexxus Capital has set Wednesday as the date to close books on its retap of the certificados de capital de desarrollo (CCD) sold in March. What would be the first reopening of a CCD in the short history of the asset class is set to raise up to MXP1.4bn through the sale of up to 14.29m certificates at MXP98.00. The reopening price reflects an MXP2.00 per CCD payout Nexus made in September as a part of the return structure, says a Nexxus official. It is not a discount to the MXP100.00 original offering price in March. The 2020 deal in March raised MXP1.46bn for what is essentially Nexxus’ fourth private equity fund, investing in a wide variety of assets in Mexico over a 5-year period. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Santander are managing the transaction.
Trafigura Sells Volcan Preferred Shares
Global commodities trader Trafigura has sold about a 25% stake of the preferred shares of Peruvian zinc and silver miner Volcan Compania Minera for around $400m equivalent, say bankers in Peru not involved in the deal. The shares were sold in several blocks via the local exchange and the buyers are local institutional investors, says one of the bankers. He adds that Trafigura acquired the stake in 2006 and sold it because Volcan is not part of its core business. Another banker says that BBVA Continental and Scotia handled the transactions.
S&P Chops Barbados Rating
S&P has cut the ratings of Barbados to BBB minus from BBB. The ratings agency believes the sovereign’s debt burden will increase in the next 2 years because of delays in the government’s fiscal-consolidation efforts and a slower-than-expected economic recovery. S&P says that although the refinancing risk remains low, the high and increasing level of debt is straining fiscal accounts and, if not addressed, could lead to a loss of investor confidence. The outlook is stable.
China SWF Mulls LatAm PE Investment
Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) wants to boost exposure to LatAm, potentially via private equity. “For us Latin America is a very important region for investment,” says CIC president and CIO Gao Xiqing. He adds that CIC wants to “increase the LatAm proportion of our portfolio to match the economic contribution of LatAm to the global economy.” Noting the relative underdevelopment of LatAm public markets, Gao says that in order to achieve this increase in exposure, CIC was “looking at private equity and other direct investment opportunities.” According to Gao, LatAm represented 6.9% of CIC’s total public market investment last year. He was speaking last week at the China-LAC Business Summit, held in Chengdu, China. CIC has some $300bn in assets. At the same event, China Eximbank and the IDB signed a letter of intent to boost trade between China and LatAm/Caribbean. “We believe the partnership between China Eximbank and IDB to be a groundbreaking initiative to support increased trade activity,” says IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno.
Fitch Studies FertiNitro Nationalization Impact
FertiNitro Finance’s nationalization by the Venezuelan government does not trigger an immediate acceleration of debt, Fitch says. The agency, which has a CCC (negative) rating on the company’s $250m 2020 bonds, says the company has always honored debt obligations, but that after the nationalization, the status of debt obligations is unclear. FertiNitro says that Pequiven, the state-owned company of which it is now a subsidiary, intends to support its debt obligations, but Fitch says details of such support are unclear. The agency does say, however, that the government of Venezuela has not prevented payment of debt obligations of strategically important nationalized companies.
Credicorp Buys Alico’s Pacifico Stakes
Peruvian financial conglomerate Credicorp says it is acquiring a 20.1% stake in Pacifico Seguros and a 38.0% stake in Pacifico Vida from US-based American Life Insurance Co. (Alico) for $170m in cash. Alico is owned by AIG through a SPV, though the parent is in the process of selling the company to MetLife. The acquisition of the Pacifico shares brings Credicorp’s stakes in Pacifico Seguros to 96% and to 100% in Pacifico Vida. “These are acquisitions that we have been planning ever since AIG ran into trouble,” says a Credicorp spokeswoman. AIG, which had to be bailed out by the US government in 2008, is expected to complete the sale of Alico in the next few months, according to company information. Credicorp’s spokeswoman says the company will finance the acquisition with cash on hand. “We had set aside funds so we could be able to finance the deal once we were able to execute it,” she says, adding that the deal was negotiated privately.