Category: Regions

Bimbo plans to set out Monday to meet the buyside in the US and London on a weeklong “non-deal” roadshow, investors say. The Mexican bread maker is not in urgent need of funds, though is working to get reduce debt to Ebitda to 2.0x this year, from 2.5x earlier in February, after the late 2008 acquisition of Weston Foods assets in the US pushed it above 4.0x. CFO Guillermo Quiroz told LatinFinance in March that liability management was a possibility in the international markets this year. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and HSBC are managing the show. Moody’s this week changed the outlook on Bimbo’s Baa2 ratings to positive from stable, and upped its national-scale rating to Aa1 from Aa2.

Mexican financial group Inbursa says it has acquired Chrysler’s car loan portfolio for MXP5.6bn ($435m) in an effort to strengthen its position in the retail consumer market. S&P analyst Alfredo Calvo says the deal will not have a major impact on Inbursa’s ratings. It also will not increase its share of the Mexican retail market much, as it will still remain under 2%, even though it will get about 60,000 new clients through the acquisition. As of March, Calvo says Inbursa’s retail portfolio amounted to about MXP6bn. Its total portfolio, focused mostly on the commercial segment, amounts to MXP167bn. S&P has a BBB rating with stable outlook on Inbursa.

Moody’s has improved the outlook of Mexican food company Bimbo, rated Baa2, to positive from stable. The agency cites Bimbo’s progress in deleveraging its balance sheet after acquiring US-based Weston Foods, where it also expects synergies. For the 12 months ended March 31, debt to Ebitda was 2.5x and Bimbo aims to reduce this to 2.0x, Moody’s says. However, Moody’s also notes challenging conditions in Bimbo’s key Mexican and US baked goods markets. Debt maturities in 2011 are minimal, at MXP714m, rising to MXP13.5bn in 2012, MXP5.4bn in 2013 and MXP7.7bn in 2014, says Moody’s, which expects Bimbo to refinance these on a timely basis in DCM or the bank market, as well as some free cash flow. Bimbo also maintains a $750m committed revolving credit facility which is undrawn and provides alternate liquidity, the agency adds.

Penoles is targeting June 17 for the sale of up to MXP7bn in bonds on Mexico’s domestic market, regulatory approval and market conditions permitting, say bankers managing it. The silver miner has the option to divide the issue into 10-year fixed-rate notes and 5-year notes paying a spread to the TIIE benchmark. BBVA Bancomer, HSBC and Santander are managing the sale, rated AA+ on a national scale. Proceeds will go towards refinancing debt and financing investment. In another highly anticipated AAA corporate transaction, Telefonica is heard aiming for the last week of June to place a MXP6bn 2014/2020 deal from its Mexican unit, also through BBVA, HSBC and Santander.

The government of Mexico City is targeting next week or the following to price a securitization of tax proceeds received from the federal government, according to a government official. The transaction is awaiting regulatory approval, but terms remain as previously announced. The transaction will be for up to MXP2.0bn and is the first in a series of 3 this year that will total MXP5.3bn. The government has the option of spreading the issue among a 2015 tranche paying a spread over TIIE, a 2020 paying fixed rate, and a 2025 portion denominated in UDIs. Proceeds will help fund public works, most notably the construction of a new metro line. Deutsche Bank is managing the sale, rated AAA on a national scale.

Mexican oil company Pemex says it has filed a lawsuit against Germany-based chemical company BASF and US-based energy services company Murphy Energy, alleging that they participated in illegal trafficking of stolen condensate. Pemex also alleges that the following are involved: Trammo Petroleum, Valley Fuels and US Petroleum Depot, as well as “other people.” The 3 named entities are based in the US. Pemex does not specify whether they are also being sued. It also says 5 people have been detained as part of ongoing investigations into the matter, and adds that they have admitted guilt and will be sentenced. The accused companies do not return calls for comment. The lawsuit has been presented to the federal district court in Houston, Texas, the state in which Pemex alleges illegal activity. Pemex says 5 individuals have been detained, admitted guilt and are in the process of being sentenced.

America Movil has filed a 4-year domestic issuance program to raise up to MXP35bn, according to regulatory documents. The Mexican wireless operator gives no indication of when it might tap domestic markets, and names only fellow Carlos Slim entity Inbursa as a bank on the deal. AMX has already issued this year, helping open the Mexican market with a MXP15bn deal from a previous MXP20bn shelf at the beginning of March. It has been busy this year in international markets, with a $4bn dollar tap in March and a $193m equivalent Chilean market tap in late May.