Category: Regions

TMM Division Maritima is preparing to issue MXP4.45bn in 2028 bonds backed by payments from service contracts with Pemex. The transaction is a follow-up to a similar MXP1.55bn deal placed in May and backed by 5-year contracts its service ships signed with the state-owned oil producer. The new deal, involving a different set of contracts, is expected by mid-July. Value Casa de Bolsa is managing the sale. The last one was rated AA minus.

Mortgage lender Hipotecaria Credito y Casa plans to place June 11 up to MXP1bn in floating-rate 2012 bonds backed by construction bridge loans. Barclays and Santander are managing the AAA sale. Also expected by the end of the month are a MXP700m 3-year floating-rate issue from Vitro, through Ixe, and a 3-year issue from Volkswagen Leasing for up to MXP2bn, via Santander and Inbursa.

Mexico-based cement multinational Cemex has scored a major coup in the debt markets by raising a $1.05bn perpetual bank loan – the first of its kind in LatAm – LatinFinance has learned. The seasoned visitor to the markets has issued perpetual bonds in the past – the latest tap for EUR730m in May 2007 – getting equity treatment that allows Cemex to raise low-cost funds with a much gentler impact on leverage ratios than a plain vanilla bond. With a perpetual loan, however, the accounting treatment is untested. The facility was raised by New Sunward Holding, a Cemex subsidiary, with a club of banks, led by structuring agent HSBC, as well as Santander and RBS as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners. The deal pays Libor plus 100bp in the first 18 months and steps up to Libor plus 200bp in months 18-36. Starting in year 5, the margin steps up again, presumably to much higher levels. ING and Caja Madrid are MLAs. The deal is guaranteed by Cemex.

At first blush, a $1.05bn perpetual loan facility for Mexico-based cement giant Cemex appears to be an act of clever financial engineering – a move to potentially reduce short term debt with new obligations that have a minor impact on leverage. Cemex has repeatedly told investors that the goal is to get the net debt to Ebitda ratio to 3.0x by year-end. As of Q1, the ratio was 3.7x, up from 1.2x a year prior, and virtually unchanged from Q4. The company has also waived two bank covenants that require leverage to be at or below 3.5x, according to an analyst. “Their leverage is very high for the ratings category,” says Sebastian Hofmeister, vp at Moody’s’ corporate finance department in Mexico. “The rating is based on the assumption that leverage will come down quickly,” he adds. Moody’s rates Cemex unit Rinker Baa2 with a negative outlook, reflecting the credit profile of the parent. Cemex officials were not immediately available for comment.