Mexican cement giant is preparing to issue €750m in perpetual non-call 10 senior debentures. The bonds received a BBB rating by Fitch, but were simultaneously put on negative watch due to other circumstances, such the pending acquisition of Rinker. The bonds will be issued through a special purpose vehicle entitled C10-EUR Capital, similar to the dollar-denominated C5 and C10s issued in December and January. Interest on the C10-EUR debentures are deferrable indefinitely. Barclays and JPMorgan are leading the offer, which is on roadshow in the first part of this week.
Category: Regions
Posted inMagazine
Petroperu Back in the Game
Peru’s state-owed oil company, Petroperu, has sprung back to life after years of inefficiency. It is now looking to modernize with a $1 billion investment.
Posted inDaily Brief
Rodríguez to Chair Acción International
Alvaro Rodríguez, former finance director of Mexican glassmaker Vitro, is to become the chair of microfinance organization Acción International in June. Rodríguez, who engineered Vitro’s successful debt reprofiling earlier this year, will assume the non-executive role June 15. Rodríguez, who has not taken on another full-time position since resigning from Vitro in April, is also on the board of the Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos and served on the committee advising the bank on its April $466 million IPO on the Mexican stock exchange. Banco Compartamos’ IPO was the first by a Latin American microfinance institution. Enrique Osorio, formerly finance director of troubled biotechnology firm Savia, replaced Rodríguez as Vitro’s CFO.
Posted inDaily Brief
ING Sells Off Mexican Factoring Unit
Dutch bank ING has sold off its Mexican subsidiary Factoring Comercial América to local bank Ve Por Más for an undisclosed sum. ING said the sale was part of a wider restructuring process of ING Mexico’s portfolio. Ve Por Más said the acquisition gave it a first step into the country’s factoring sector.
Posted inDaily Brief
Televisa Eyes Stake in Endemol
Mexican broadcaster Televisa may invest in Dutch media company Endemol, reports Reuters. Spain’s Telefonica is touting its 75% stake in the company, which it bought in 2000, looking for around $7.4bn. Meantime, Televisa is sitting on a mountain of cash after selling its 12% stake in US Spanish-language broadcaster Univision earlier this year, picking up just over $1 billion.
Posted inDaily Brief
Merrill Raises Venezuela, Cuts Colombia
Merrill Lynch has raised Venezuela to overweight in its external EM debt portfolio while scaling back Colombia to underweight. In Vene, the shop expresses a bullish view through the 2018 and 2020, but avoids the 2025. Merrill is essentially buying the dip after fears of a PDVSA glut were unfounded. It also sees upside in the inclusion of PDVSA in major indices used by clients, including the EMBIG, and the fact that some Venezuelans will remain invested. Vene continues to be underpinned by oil, which reinforces ability to pay. Part of this reallocation is funded by a switch out of Colombia 2037s, based on an expectation of possible profit taking at the long end. A trigger would either come from deteriorating external conditions or the return to headlines of the Territorial Transfers reform, says Merrill.
Posted inDaily Brief
Peru Growth Seen Moderating
Peru is leading the region with impressive low-inflation growth, but the pace of expansion will slow this year and next, according to Banco del Credito. “For the next two years, it’s feasible that the economy will grow at rates above 6%, owing to accelerated growth in private investment and favorable external conditions,” says the Peruvian bank. It forecasts a 6.6% rise this year. Peru’s 8.0% GDP growth in 2006 was second in the region to Argentina’s 8.6%. However, the latter also saw 9.8% inflation. Peru saw growth of 9.2% and 7.4% respectively in the first two months of the year, and is set to record 7.5%-8.0% growth in the first quarter. Inflation over the last 12 months was 0.2%, one of the lowest in LatAm, according to BCP, though there are concerns that a 12% leap in domestic demand in Q1 could pressure prices higher. Bear Stearns notes a 10.2% increase in reserves to more than $19bn, following a 22.5% jump in 2006 reserves to $17.3bn. “Peru’s strong economic, monetary, fiscal and external conditions afford a compelling fundamental justification for its bonds to perform well and for the country to be viewed as a good candidate for ratings upgrades,” says Bear.
Posted inDaily Brief
Petrotrin To Price Next Week
Trinidad and Tobago’s Petrotrin, which is out on the road with a $750m amortizer due 2022, is expected to price next week following an extensive roadshow via Citi. Price talk is not yet out, but bankers say the only comp is NGC, Trinidad’s natural gas company, which issued a bond in early 2006 through Citi/Lehman. On Tuesday, the 2036 NGC bond, rated A3/BBB+ was trading at 99.25 to yield 6.10%
Posted inDaily Brief
Petrotrin to Sell 15-year Bonds
Trinidad & Tobago’s state owned oil company Petrotrin is on the road with a $750m 15-year amortizer. Citi has sole books. Moody’s rated the bond Baa2.
Posted inDaily Brief
Pemex Oil Output in Decline
The latest data from Pemex show output from the Mexican oil giant still in decline versus last year. The March 2007 figure of 3.18m barrels per day (bpd) is 5% lower than the 3.35m bpd seen in March 2006. Oil production was down in each of the first three months and some investors worry that it is in a long term decline that could seriously dent sovereign credit quality. The good news is that exports are rising slightly. But at 1.78m bpd in March, they are still more than 10% short of what was being shipped out a year earlier. In a speech last week, director general Jesús Reyes Heroles said, “The company’s situation is critical and deserves immediate attention.”