Mexican satellite operator Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex), which successfully restructured itself last year to position the company as a target in the consolidating satellite communications sector, says it will open its books to potential investors next month and expects to receive bids by mid-April. The company appointed Morgan Stanley at the end of last year to advise on the sale to a strategic buyer. Satmex’s restructuring last year, which has been praised for its fair treatment of foreign creditors, left 78% of the company’s equity in the hands of the debtholders. The remaining 22% is held by the Mexican government (20%) and jointly by local telco Principa and US operator Loral (2%).
Category: Regions
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Digicel Launches $1.4bn Buyout Bond
Digicel Group, the Caribbean telecom, will today, Thursday, look to price a $1.4 billion high-yield offering to yield 9.00%-9.25%. The price talk is viewed by some bankers away from the deal as aggressive, given that the company is 9x levered and rated Caa2 by Moody’s. The notes, due 2015 and callable after year 3, are in two tranches: $1 billion in cash pay bonds and $400 million in cash or PIK notes. The roadshow wrapped up its last stop in Los Angeles Wednesday. The targeted investor base is evenly split between high-yield accounts and emerging markets investors. Citi is on the left with JPMorgan as joint lead. Digicel is based in Jamaica and run by Irish entrepreneur Denis O’Brien.
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Peru To Finalize Exchange Today
Peru is set to price today, Thursday, its retap of the 2016 and new 2033 bonds, which are being issued in exchange for a 2012 Global and two classes of Brady bonds. The country’s biggest ever liability management exercise aims to retire $4 billion in outstanding paper. Bids are due at 9am and pricing will be announced at 3pm, according to bankers close to the deal. Citi and Deutsche Bank are the leads.
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Sarukhan New Mexican Ambassador To US
Arturo Sarukhan has been confirmed as the new Mexican ambassador to the US, one of the country’s key diplomatic postings. Sarukhan, who was formerly head of the Mexican consulate in New York before joining Felipe Calderón’s campaign team, holds a masters in US foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to becoming a career diplomatic, Surukhan was executive secretary of the non-governmental Bilateral Commission on the Future of Mexico-United States Relations (1988-89). The Commission, funded by the Ford Foundation, comprised Mexican and US representatives from the private sector whose objective was to lay the groundwork for bilateral relations between the US and Mexico.
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LatAm, Caribbean Sovereigns To Increase Borrowing
Gross long-term borrowing by 25 Latin American and Caribbean sovereigns should grow to $427 billion this year, up a modest 5%-6% on last year, according to the third annual debt issuance survey conducted by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. The report also highlights the declining role of official sector funding as sovereigns increasingly access the markets directly to issue debt. Moreover, “Gross official lending (from both bilateral and multilateral lenders) to regional sovereigns is likely to total only US$17 billion in 2007. Around 96% of government borrowing in 2007 should originate with local and external commercial sources, similar to the level in 2006,” continues the report. Brazil will once more be the region’s largest sovereign borrower.
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Colombia Cundinamarca Province Sizes Up Bond Offering
The central Colombian province of Cundinamarca, which surrounds the country’s capital Bogotá, is to issue 10-year bonds worth up to $60 million (134 billion pesos). The money raised will fund development programs in the province. The sale will be led by Interbolsa and Asesores en Valores.
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Petroperú, Ecopetrol Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Peru’s state-run oil concern Petroperú and its Colombian counterpart – Ecopetrol – have signed a cooperation agreement that embraces the growing area of alternative biofuels energy, hydrocarbons exploration, production and refining. The two companies signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday and will establish an executive committee to analyze specific joint agreements. No details of amounts to be invested were offered.
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Comcel Offers $45 Million CP
Colombia’s largest wireless phone operator Comunicación Celular (Comcel), part of Mexican cell phone operator América Móvil, was due to sell $45 million worth (100 billion pesos) of commercial paper on Tuesday, denominated in pesos. Comcel offered to pay a maximum yield of 8.40% on the 90-day commercial paper. The proceeds of the sale will be used for working capital, said the company ahead of the transaction. The sale was led by BBVA’s Colombian unit. The issue is part of a larger debt program worth 1 trillion pesos ($450 million), approved last May. Last November, the company sold $66 million (150 billion pesos) of the 90-day paper to yield 7.9%, which matured on Monday.
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PRI Elects Paredes Party Leader
Mexican political party PRI has elected Beatriz Paredes as the president of its national executive committee. Paredes beat off former senator Enrique Jackson to become the replacement for incumbent party leader Mariano Palacios. Paredes was formerly the governor of the state of Tlaxcala. The PRI dominated Mexican political life for over 70 years but has been in decline since it lost the presidency to Vicente Fox and his PAN party in 2000. It came third in last year’s general elections behind Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s PRD. The challenge facing Paredes is to transform the PRI into a credible party in the eyes of Mexican voters and to build alliances with the current administration.
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Ashmore Energy, Suez Agree Energy Deals
Global energy company Ashmore Energy International (AEI) and Colombian natural gas distributor Promigas have agreed to buy 100% of Peruvian natural gas distribution business Calidda from French power company Suez. The acquisition adds to AEI’s energy infrastructure assets in the region. AEI is a majority shareholder in Promigas. Meanwhile, AEI has entered into an agreement to sell its 51% indirect stake in Bahia Las Minas, a Panamanian generation company, to Suez Energy International. AEI agreed to the divestiture of the company to comply with Panama’s anti-trust laws after it bought Prisma Energy last September. It also owns electrical distribution company Elektra Noreste. AEI gave no financial details of the transactions.