Category: Regions

Calgary-based generator TransAlta has agreed to sell its Mexican assets to InterGen Global Ventures for $303.5m in cash. Intergen, a generator co-owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and AIG Highstar Capital, will buy TransAlta’s 252MW gas-fired plant in Campeche, a 259MW gas-fired plant in Chihuahua and all their associated commercial arrangements. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Mexico and is expected to close by mid-year. The shedding of its Mexican assets is the culmination of a strategic review period for TransAlta, which expects to take a C$55m-C$65m Q1 charge reflecting the difference between the purchase and sale prices. It plans to use a significant portion of the proceeds to buy back shares.

Calgary-based generator TransAlta has agreed to sell its Mexican assets to InterGen Global Ventures for $303.5m in cash. Intergen, a generator co-owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and AIG Highstar Capital, will buy TransAlta’s 252MW gas-fired plant in Campeche, a 259MW gas-fired plant in Chihuahua and all their associated commercial arrangements. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Mexico and is expected to close by mid-year. The shedding of its Mexican assets is the culmination of a strategic review period for TransAlta, which expects to take a C$55m-C$65m Q1 charge reflecting the difference between the purchase and sale prices. It plans to use a significant portion of the proceeds to buy back shares.

Mexico’s central bank completed its first ever UDI bond exchange Wednesday, but only managed to buy back 17% of the $1.1bn it offered to swap. “The response was less than what we had offered,” Alicia Nunez, a director for public credit operations at Hacienda, tells LatinFinance. “It’s just a question of supply and demand. We believe in giving the market a chance to migrate towards the more liquid issue.” Banxico bought back $184.2m worth of 4.5% 2025 UDI-denominated bonds and offered in exchange 4.5% 2035 UDI-denominated bonds. An auction for the buyback price for the 2025s resulted in the issuance of $179.6m of the more liquid 2035 UDI notes. The central bank’s next auction date, March 5, could bring a similar offer for inflation-linked or fixed-rate peso-denominated bonds.

Mexico’s central bank completed its first ever UDI bond exchange Wednesday, but only managed to buy back 17% of the $1.1bn it offered to swap. “The response was less than what we had offered,” Alicia Nunez, a director for public credit operations at Hacienda, tells LatinFinance. “It’s just a question of supply and demand. We believe in giving the market a chance to migrate towards the more liquid issue.” Banxico bought back $184.2m worth of 4.5% 2025 UDI-denominated bonds and offered in exchange 4.5% 2035 UDI-denominated bonds. An auction for the buyback price for the 2025s resulted in the issuance of $179.6m of the more liquid 2035 UDI notes. The central bank’s next auction date, March 5, could bring a similar offer for inflation-linked or fixed-rate peso-denominated bonds.

Mexico’s central bank will today offer up to $1.1bn worth of 2035 UDI-denominated bonds in exchange for the equivalent amount in 2025 UDI bonds. The point of the exercise is to strengthen Mexico’s UDI curve at the long end, Alicia Nunez, a director for public credit operations at Hacienda, tells LatinFinance. So far this year, Hacienda has chosen to strengthen the 3, 10 and 30-year parts of the curve, while at the end of last year efforts revolved around the 10, 20 and 30 year points, she says. This is the first ever UDI exchange and will involve the sale of bonds worth 3bn UDIs. One UDI equals MXP3.96. Pricing on the 2025 purchase will be determined up to an hour before issuance, around noon local time, while the offer price for the 2035s will be established by an auction process. The 2025 UDIs closed Tuesday around 360bp over the IPC, while the 2035s were hovering around 363bp over, according to one of the many local brokers providing prices on the notes. UDI offerings are almost entirely sold to local investors, says Nunez.