Colombia has set a date of October 12 to begin the second phase of its privatization of Granbanco-Bancafé. The bank, the country’s seventh-largest in terms of assets, is expected to bring to the country’s coffers around $450 million and will give the successful buyer around 6% of the country’s banking assets. The government opened up the initial phase of the sale of the bank in July, due to end on September 17, during which the bank’s assets are being offered to the country’s pension funds, unions, cooperatives and other sectors of the so-called “solidarity” public sector. Local firms expected to bid for the government’s last financial asset include Grupo Colpatria, Grupo Bolívar (the mayor shareholder of Davivienda), and Bancolombia. Foreign bidders are likely to include Santander, Citibank and HSBC.
Category: Regions
Bolivia Starts To Debate Constitutional Reform
Bolivia’s Constituent Assembly, whose 255 members were elected on July 2, will open the debate today, Tuesday, on the future of the country’s Constitution. The Assembly is tasked with reworking the Constitution, despite a lack of consensus between the government and the opposition on how much of a majority is needed to vote through the constitutional reforms. Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, has called for radical reform and a “refounding of Bolivia” on behalf of the Indian majority of the population.
Colombia Opens Third Round of Trade Talks With Central America
Colombia will today, Monday, open the third round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the “northern triangle” Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The talks, being held in Medellín, will continue to discuss topics such as: technical obstacles to free trade, visas, contracts and investment rules. Colombia began to negotiate an FTA with Central America earlier this year after it sealed its agreement with the US. The aim of the treaty is to increase bilateral trade between Colombia and the “northern triangle” countries for the benefit of both sides.
Telmex Buys Into Portugal Telecom
Mexican telecoms company Telmex, Mexico’s largest fixed-line operator, has bought a 3.4% stake in Portugal Telecom (PT). PT is currently defending itself from a hostile takeover bid by rival company Sonaecom for $14.2 billion. Telmex has not discarded the possibility that it may raise its stake in PT, possibly bidding against Sonaecom to take control of the company. Analysts believe Telmex may be interested in acquiring, indirectly, a stake in Vivo, Brazil’s largest mobile phone operator which is jointly owned by PT and Spain’s Telefónica. Telefónica is also PT’s largest shareholder, owning 9.96% of its shares.
Nicaragua Seeks To Issue Bonds To Recharge Energy Needs
Nicaragua’s government has sent a bill to Congress to approve the issuance of $9 million worth of Treasury bills to help alleviate the country’s energy crisis. The money raised would be used to inject fresh funds into Spanish-owned utility Unión Fenosa to enable it to buy electricity in the Central American energy market. Fenosa controls Nicaragua’s electricity distribution. Power outages have been a common problem since last year but the situation has worsened recently due to technical failures and the rising price of oil. Nicaragua has been struggling to meet its daily electricity needs of 450 MW per day and has been forced to introduce rationing.
VENA Sells $110 Million Notes
Mexican Vitro Envases Norteamérica (VENA), a subsidiary of glass manufacturer Vitro, has sold $110 million of senior short-term guaranteed notes. The one-year notes carry a 10% interest rate. The money raised is to be used to prepay a $105 million loan with Credit Suisse, lowering the cost of the company’s debt. The issue was 40% oversubscribed, according to the company’s press release. The offering was arranged by BCP Securities.
Colombia Adds To Privatization List
Colombia has added power generator Corporación Eléctrica de la Costa Atlantica (Corelca) and minority stakes in two other generators to its privatization list. The funds raised from the sale of 99% of Barranquilla-based Corelca, slated to be sold at auction next June, will be used to finance infrastructure projects on the Caribbean coast, according to a speech by President Álvaro Uribe earlier in the week. The minority stakes to be sold are in Electrificadora del Quindio (EDEQ), and Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas (CHEC). Colombia recently announced it is to package shares from the best of the state-run regional electricity companies into a holding company that will be partially privatized next year. President Álvaro Uribe, who was inaugurated for his second term in office on Monday, has pursued a vigorous program of privatization during his time as president.
Mexico Inflation Slows
The rate of headline inflation in Mexico slowed last month to 3.1% from 3.2% in June, according to the central bank, Banco de México (Banxico). The CPI was up 0.28% in July compared with 0.09% in June. Core inflation, which strips out fresh food and energy, was up slightly to 3.3% in July from 3.2% in June, although month on month it fell to 0.28% from 0.33%. Inflation is being contained because healthy growth this year (around 4%) is being driven by external, not domestic demand, say economists.
Mexico Sells $12 Billion Peso Bonds To Slash Foreign Debt
Mexico sold $12.4 billion worth of local-currency bonds yesterday, Thursday, and will use the money raised to prepay $9 billion of its $13.4 debt to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The success of the sale underscores investor confidence in Mexico’s stability and in the likely accession in December of business-friendly Felipe Calderón as Mexico’s next president. The floating-rate federal development bonds (Bondes D) were issued by the Treasury and sold to investors via the Central Bank. The government accepted central bank bonds (Brems) as payment for the new paper. The government will use the $12.4 billion raised to buy some of the huge foreign currency reserves held by the Central Bank to pay down part of its foreign debt. Mexico has built up foreign currency reserves of around $78 billion mainly as a result of the high global oil prices. Mexico’s foreign debt-to-GDP ratio currently stands at 7%; following the early debt repayments this will fall to 5.4% and foreign debt as a percentage of total debt will fall from 35.2% to 27.3%.
UK Aviation Firm Buys LAB Stake
Transatlantic Aviation Limited (TAA) of the UK has bought a 50% stake in troubled Bolivian flagship airline Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB). The investment plan includes the immediate use of two aircraft to allow LAB to restart its most lucrative routes – to Spain and the US. The shares sold to TAA were those belonging to former LAB president, Ernesto Asbún, currently on the run facing charges of financial mismanagement. He handed them over to LAB’s workers in July. They have been running the airline since then. Three-quarters of the airline’s fleet has been out of operation since the beginning of the year due to mounting debt.