LNG is shaping up to be an important technology for supplying natural gas to North America, and Mexico is positioned to play a pivotal role.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
GCC Closes $250 Million Syndicated Credit
Mexican cement-producer Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has closed a $250 million syndicated credit with a group of eight banks that includes BBVA, HSBC Mexico, Citibank and Bank of Nova Scotia. The credit expires in seven years with interest at LIBOR plus a spread reflecting the company’s competitive situation. A first drawdown of $90 million has already been made, according to GCC’s press release. BBVA Securities arranged the transaction. GCC is to use the money to refinance bridging loans taken out for its May acquisition of Midco in the US, to finance part of the investment in a new cement plant in Colorado and to refinance domestic bonds due in December this year.
Posted inDaily Brief
OLA To Millicom
Luxembourg-based Millicom has won control of Colombia Móvil, known as OLA, the country’s third-largest mobile phone company, after revising its bid to $478.5 million, the minimum price accepted by OLA’s owners – Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá (ETB) and Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) – Colombia’s two largest telcos. Millicom will now control 50% plus one share of OLA’s capital. Caribbean-based Digicel Group, the only other qualified contender in the race, failed to present a bid, leaving Millicom to negotiate a price directly with ETB and EPM.
Posted inDaily Brief
GISSA To Merge Homeware Units
Mexican Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GISSA) has announced it will merge three of its units, effective September 1. The three firms – Cinsa, Porcelanizados Enasa and Comesco – are all part of the homeware division of the Coahuila-based industrial group. The merger, which will see Cinsa absorbing Enasa and Comesco – is being carried out to simplify administrative operations of the companies, according to GISSA.
Posted inDaily Brief
BBVA Colombia Sells $37 Million Local Bonds
Foreign-owned BBVA Colombia sold $37 million of local currency bonds Monday, slightly less than the $40 million it had originally planned. The five-year bonds will pay an annual interest rate of inflation plus 5.2%, the maximum the bank said it would pay. The bond issue, rated AA+ by Duff & Phelps de Colombia, is part of a larger debt issuance program worth $166.8 million in total, approved earlier this year by the Bank’s shareholders.
Posted inDaily Brief
ICA Names New Chief
Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (ICA), Mexico’s largest construction company, has named its new chief executive. José Luis Guerrero, who is currently the company’s vice-president and head of finance, will take over at the helm from January 1 next year from Bernardo Quintana, who will continue as chairman of the board. The appointment, which the company said is part of a reorganization of ICA, is due to be approved by shareholders on September 12.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico To Grow 4.2%, Says Finance Minister
Mexico’s finance minister, Francisco Gil Diaz, has said he thinks the country will see growth this year of at least 4.2%, up from 4% previously forecast. Recent figures published by Mexico’s Central Bank revealed the economy grew by 4.7% in the second quarter of the year, taking first-half growth to 5.1%, the strongest result for the period since 2000. The Bank raised its forecast to the year to 4.5% following the better-than-expected results. Last year, the Mexican economy grew by only 3%.
Posted inDaily Brief
Peru Fiscal Deficit 4.8% Of GDP
Peru recorded a fiscal surplus in the first half of the year of 4.8% of GDP, compared with a surplus of 2.5% of GDP for the same period last year. The increase in the surplus, which reached $2.16 billion, was a result of a rise of 24% in revenues during the period against a rise of only 9.8% in expenses. Meanwhile, July figures showed a surplus of $48.9 million, versus a deficit of $184 million in July last year, and takes the fiscal surplus for the year through July to $2.42 billion.
Posted inDaily Brief
Bolivia Sacks YPFB President
Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, has finally sacked the head of state-owned oil company YPFB, Jorge Alvarado, following growing pressure to remove him from his post after allegations of fraud. However, Morales insisted that charges of corruption against Alvarado would prove unfounded. Alvarado has been replaced by Juan Carlos Ortiz, the company’s vice-president for administration and corporate governance. Morales also replaced the superintendent of oil and gas, Victor Hugo Sainz, who brought the charges against Alvarado, and appointed lawyer Santiago Berrios in his stead. Bolivia’s hydrocarbons nationalization program, announced with much fanfare on May 1, has been beset by problems as cash-strapped YPFB struggles to cope with its new role in charge of the country’s oil production. So far it has failed to finalize negotiations with foreign oil companies regarding the nationalization of assets, despite an initial deadline of six months.
Posted inDaily Brief
Ecuador Names New Defense Minister
Ecuador has named retired general Marcelo Delgado to head up the defense ministry following the surprise resignation on Monday of defense minister Oswaldo Jarrín who had been in the post for only a year. The former minister gave little explanation as to why he was resigning but repeated his demand for an explanation from Colombia following a border incident which injured three people in Ecuadorian territory. Delgado, 67, also served between 1984 and 1988 under former president León Febres Cordero.