Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC) managed to close a 5-year loan it brought over the summer without changing pricing on the pricing, but it had to settle with 70% of the funds originally sought. The Mexican cement producer was seeking $200m but met resistance from a stringent lending community. It chose to close the facility, which pays Libor plus 125bp, at $140m. Bankers close to the deal say the tenor was difficult for Mexican corporates and pricing was not quite juicy enough to convince many participants. BBVA led, with ABN AMRO, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Barclays and EDC taking tickets of various sizes.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexican and Argentine Banks Fall Short
The only banks to do very badly in this year’s LatinFinance sustainable banking study in association with Madrid-based consultancy Management & Excellence (M&E) are Mexico’s Inbursa – part of Carlos Slim’s empire – with a very low CSR score, and state run Banco de la Nacion Argentina (BNA), which ranks very low for governance. BNA is the only bank to receive zero points in all areas of human resource compliance with international standards, including International Labor Organization guidelines and human rights policies. Inbursa comes in second to last and appears to be one of the few major financial institutions worldwide without any contact data for investors. According to M&E, sustainability is the best predictive instrument investors can get because it looks at systems which determine the numbers. And according to M&E, equity in companies rated highly for sustainability actually outperforms benchmarks. “If you want to know what is going to happen tomorrow in a company, look at its management systems, i.e. its sustainability,” says William Cox, managing director at M&E. “The best indicator of a company’s sustainability, not CSR, is a full ranking based on an internal audit.” Sustainability includes diverse practices like customer service, compliance with Basel capital accords, membership of sustainability initiatives, engagement in sound financial management and reporting, certified management processes, implementation of codes of ethics and environmental protection. (For the full report, see www.latinfinance.com)
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico Plans Urban Mass Transit Push
Mexico’s National Infrastructure Fund (Fonadin) is planning to launch a program to support the development of urban mass transit systems, such as buses, subways and commuter rails. “Fonadin will provide technical assistance and funding,” says director Federico Patino. He adds that Fonadin will be able to assist state and local governments with studies to determine the right type of project, as well as running bidding processes among private sector participants. It will also be available for equity investment and the guarantee of debt products. Patino says total size has not been set. The program has already identified more than 20 potential projects, and has selected four pilot ventures to test it. Among the first will be a BRT, or Metrobus, project in the city of Guadalajara – similar to the system running in Mexico City, which is modelled on those in Curitiba, Brazil. The program should be formally initiated within the month.
Posted inDaily Brief
Financiera Independencia Poaches from CS
Mexican microfinance lender Financiera Independencia has appointed Didier Mena Campos as CFO, replacing Juan Garcia Madrigal, who is leaving to pursue personal endeavors. Prior to joining Financiera Independencia, Mena was an MD at Credit Suisse where he was co-responsible for CentAm investment banking and certain financial institutions in Mexico, the company says. In June, Financiera Independencia landed MXP784m in 3-year local bonds, marking its first issuance of term debt.
Posted inDaily Brief
Su Casita Wants to Offer More Products
Su Casita has filed for a change of status that would allow it to offer a broader range of financial services. The Mexican mortgage lender would become a multiple purpose finance company, known as a Sofom, an upgrade from its current designation as a limited purpose company, or Sofol. The Sofom license would enable Su Casita to provide products outside of its core mortgage business, such as credit cards and personal loans. The change comes after majority shareholder Caja Madrid announced in July that it would buy the 60% stake it did not already own in Su Casita for $342m.
Posted inDaily Brief
Canal May Bypass Commercial Banks
The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) has received offers for multilateral debt that total more than the $2.25bn in debt financing it plans to seek to fund its expansion projects, according to a person familiar with the financing. This gives it the option of bypassing commercial bank loans, assuming the mega project stays on budget. The PCA has yet to make any firm decision, but has indicated it would like to wrap up the financing by the end of the year. It plans to pay for the remainder of the $5.25bn project using cash from revenues. Lenders have been awaiting greater definition of the authority’s plans, with the expectation that an international bank loan piece would be needed, along with local bond debt. The IFC and IDB have each offered $500m loans, with EIB and JBIC also heard as potential lenders.
Posted inDaily Brief
Spain’s Enhol in Mexico Wind Farm Investment
Spanish alternative energy holding Enhol has partnered with Mexico’s Zener Energias in a new wind farm project in Tamaulipas that requires investment of approximately $100m, Enhol’s director for Spain and Latin America Alfonso Arroyo tells LatinFinance. The company is waiting for regulatory approval and technical specifications to start the development, Arroyo says. In early August, Enhol announced plans to invest $1bn in the Parque Talinay wind farm in Chile, a 10,000-hectare facility located in the city of Ovalle, which will include 243 windmills and is expected to produce 500MW.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia Lifts Capital Controls on Equity
Colombia’s ministry of finance said Monday it has lifted capital controls for foreign investments in equities. Foreigners will no longer have to keep a local deposit worth 50% of their investment in local equities and convertibles for two years. Buyers of local debt, however, are still subject to the deposit, says the ministry, which described capital controls as “transitory” measures. Controls, which were originally ratified June 2007 by congress, have been widely criticized. However, the government has been under pressure locally to stem peso appreciation. Colombia’s main stock indices rose Monday, with Colcap gaining 3.31%, Col20 rising 2.87%, and the IGBC up 3.56%.
Posted inDaily Brief
EIB Targets DomRep MSMEs
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is committing funds to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSME) in the Dominican Republic. “Three local banking institutions, Banco ADEMI, Banco ADOPEM and FONDESA will benefit from EIB lines of credit totaling EUR20m and up to EUR2m in equity participations,” says the EIB, which implements EU’s development and economic cooperation policy outside the EU. “EIB funds will be used to finance the banks’ portfolio of loans to the MSME sector,” adds the bank. The EIB has already supported ADEMI and ADOPEM with lines of credit, equity and technical assistance, and says it will consider other microfinance organizations in 2008 and 2009. “We have introduced a high level of flexibility into this facility to address the specific development issues of each organization,” says David Crush, head of the bank’s Caribbean and Pacific division. “We look forward to opening it to other, smaller institutions in the future,” he adds. The EIB has been active in the Dominican Republic since 1992, lending more than EUR195m to support infrastructure, financial services and small and medium sized enterprises.
Posted inMagazine
Venezuela Magnate Ruperti Cruises to Fortune
Think shipping tycoons and Europeans spring to mind. But a Venezuelan has swiftly and discreetly forged an empire and is poised to become LatAm’s very own Onassis.