The Bolivian government has established a $90m trust for the construction of a gas and oil plant in the Santa Cruz province, according to the state-owned news agency ABI. It will be administered by the country’s Banco de Desarrollo Productivo, a development bank owned 80% by the Bolivian government and 20% by CAF. The plant is expected to become operational in 18 months and produce 150m cubic feet per day of natural gas, 200 tons of LP gas and 250 barrels per day of gasoline, ABI says.
Category: Regions
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Vale Taps Japanese Funds
Vale has secured $5bn in funds from JBIC and NEXI, the long-term Japanese financing agencies, to cover mining, logistics and power generation projects from its 2008-2012 investment program. JBIC is putting up $3bn, while NEXI will provide loan insurance of up to $2bn. The deals are part of a broader $10bn+ financing package for Vale’s capex, including a committed credit facility of BRL7.3bn from the BNDES and Brazilian National Development Bank.
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Equifax Buys Ecuador Credit Ratings Agency
American credit agency Equifax has acquired 70% of the outstanding shares of Ecuador’s Credit Report C.A. Buro de Informacion Crediticia, a consumer credit reporting agency. The deal takes its participation in the Andean company to 95%. Created in 2003 by Equifax and members of the Ecuadorian financial community, the Andean agency provides credit reports and ratings.
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Mexican Homebuilder Pokes Along
A loan syndication for Mexican homebuilder Javer is heard dragging its feet, though whether because of deal-specific factors, or general market malaise is unclear. The company launched the $160m 5-year amortizer with two MLAs – ABN AMRO and Inbursa – already confirmed. Santander signed on soon after as a lead arranger, but since then, the deal, which pays Libor plus 350bp, has not made further progress. Credit Suisse is leading.
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Parker Hannifin Adds to Mexico Stake
US-based Parker Hannifin, a seals producer, has acquired the remaining stake in its joint venture, Parker Seal de Mexico. Parker held a 49% stake in the $8.3m revenue company prior to the acquisition from multiple joint venture partners. Terms were not disclosed. “This is part of our long term strategy to serve customers who have operations in Mexico,” says Heinz Droxner, president of the Parker Seal Group. Parker manufactures seals by various processes in a broad range of fluorocarbon, PTFE and metal materials for use in liquid, gas, automotive, food processing, medical and electromagnetic shielding applications. It boasts annual sales exceeding $10bn.
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Peru PF Pricing Seen Tight
Details on a $400m project loan for the construction of a regasification terminal in Peru – dubbed Peru LNG – have emerged, but at least one bank market participant senses a flex on the way. “[The leads] are checking in [with lenders] on whether an extra 25bp might help,” says one potential lender who was approached. It is not clear whether the extra basis points would be added to the margin or the fees. In the construction period of three years, the facility is heard paying Libor plus 75bp. In the post-completion period of 12 years, the pricing starts at 100bp and steps up in increments of 12.5bp every three years, say bankers not on the deal. In years 4-6, the facility pays Libor plus 112.5bp, in years 7-9 125bp, and in years 10-12, 137.5bp. SocGen and BBVA are leading and joined by MLAs ING, Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho, which signed on prior to launch. The rest of the financing package supporting the more than $3bn project includes ECA guarantee facilities from the US Export-Import Bank ($400m), Export-Import Bank of Korea ($150m) and Italy’s Sace export credit agency ($250m). There is also a $300m IFC A loan, a $400m IDB A loan, a $150m direct loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and up to $350m in local bonds underwritten by Peruvian banks and arranged by Banco de Credito del Peru. Sponsors Hunt Oil, SK Energy, Repsol YPF and Marubeni have contributed more than $1bn in equity.
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Telmex International Spinoff Heard Coming Soon
The spinoff of Telmex International from the Mexican telecom giant is on the way to market soon, say bankers. The plan, announced late last year, involves dividing Telmex into two separate companies by spinning off all LatAm businesses and the Mexican yellow pages business, which already has an international presence, to a new holding company. The deal is aimed at boosting efficiency and allowing each unit to operate autonomously for administrative, commercial and financial purposes. It also intends to improve Telmex in Mexico by allowing it to “distinguish operations in the middle and high-revenue markets, in which there is competition, from the low-revenue and rural markets, in which there is no competition,” says the telecom. The new holding company will be listed in Mexico and the US. The move should help free Telmex from pressure that recent government anti-trust actions put on the company’s stock, say analysts. Shareholders approved the split in December.
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GFM Appoints Lehman for Strategic Options
Minera Autlan, the Mexican mining company, and parent company Grupo Ferrominero (GFM), say they have hired Lehman Brothers to “explore strategic options for GFM and its subsidiaries, among them its Minera Autlan.” diverse holdings. The GFM group includes CEM, GFM Resources, GFM Electronics and Parras.
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Maple Pricing Minor Follow On
Maple Energy, an integrated energy company with assets in Peru, is set to price Friday ordinary shares at $0.01 each to institutional investors in a private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $20m. Maple intends to use proceeds to repay costs of acquiring approximately 3.1% in economic and voting interest in Aguaytia Energy, as well as fund capital expenditures associated with a proposed Peruvian ethanol project. Canaccord Adams and Mirabaud Securities are the leads, with BCP as a co-manager.
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Panama Sells GSM Mobile Licenses
America Movil and Digicel have bought licenses to operate GSM mobile networks in Panama. Jamaica-based Digicel says it paid $86m for its license, while Mexico-based America Movil says only that it has secured a 20-year concession for 30MHz in the 1900MHz radio frequency band. In Central America, Digicel already operates in El Salvador and has plans to launch in Honduras later this year. “Significant investment in Panama is planned to build a world-class network and operation that is set to stimulate growth in the mobile market by increasing mobile penetration within the next five years from approximately 60% to 90%,” says Digicel. The two incumbent Panama operators are Movistar (Telefonica) and Cable & Wireless.