Colombian cement producer, Cementos Argos, part of the conglomerate GEA, is to appeal the decision by a Venezuelan court that last week stripped it of assets in Venezuela. Cementos Argos bought a 39.6% stake in a cement factory in Venezuela, owned by state-owned Cemento Andino, back in 1998. A court has since ruled that Cementos Argos must hand over its shares in the Trujillo plant to the Venezuelan state.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
IFC Invests In Colombian Bank
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank is to invest $60 million in Colombian Banco Davivienda, thereby allowing it to expand its operations in the local market. Colombia, with its pro-US government and improving security, is to be one of the largest beneficiaries of investment into business by the IFC in Latin America. Davivienda, owned by financial group Bolívar, is the country’s fourth-largest financial institution in terms of assets.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia Looks To Airport Privatization
Colombia is looking ahead to the privatization of Bogotá’s El Dorado airport, which is due to be on the block later this year, maybe as early as July. The government says that seven companies – from Mexico, China and Spain – have expressed an interest in the sale.
Posted inDaily Brief
Repsol Bolivia Executives Released
Two executives from the Bolivian unit of Spanish oil company Repsol-YPF, Andina, were released from jail in Bolivia yesterday, Wednesday, on bail. The pair went to court late on Tuesday to testify and were then held overnight in jail. Bolivian officials are investigating the operations of Andina, following claims that it may have avoided payment of over $200,000 in taxes and royalties of crude oil shipped out of Bolivia in the 12-month period ending June 2005. According to Bolivian customs, Andina effectively smuggled $9.2 billion worth of crude to Chile and Argentina last year.
Posted inDaily Brief
Innova Makes Debt Offer
Mexican satellite television operator Innova, controlled by Televisa, is looking to buy back $195 million of its outstanding debt. The company currently has $300 million of its senior 2013 notes in circulation in the market. Innova plans to refinance its debt using a 10-year bank loan agreed at the end of last week. The strategy is to reduce its debt servicing costs.
Posted inDaily Brief
Megabanco Draws Interest
Colombian state-owned microlender Megabanco, due to be sold this week, has attracted six interested parties, according to the government. The companies include Bancolombia (CIB), Banco de Bogotá, Banco Davivienda, Banco Santander, Fundesarrollo and the financial arm of General Electric (GE). The successful bidder will need to offer more than the minimum price of $304.6 million set by the government. Whoever buys Megabanco will be taking on at least $28.9 million of debt belonging to Coopdesarrollo, the cooperative bank that controls Megabanco.
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Femsa To Invest $750 Million
Mexican brewer Femsa says it plans to invest $750 million in its operations, with the lion’s share – $350 million – going to expanding production at its Coca-cola bottling plant. Of the balance, $250 million will be invested into its beer manufacturing, in particular into loss-making Brazilian brewer Kaiser that Femsa bought earlier this year from Molson Coors of the US.
Posted inDaily Brief
CIBC Ups Stake In FirstCaribbean
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) announced that it is to take control of FirstCaribbean International Bank by doubling its stake to 87.4%. It plans to buy an extra 43.7% from Barclays PLC for about $1.08 billion. BCM and Barclays created FirstCaribbean, now the largest bank in the English-speaking Caribbean region, in 2002 when they merged their Caribbean operations. FirstCaribbean has assets of $9.6 billion and a market value of $3.3 billion.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombian Operators Offer Up Control
Colombian telephone operators Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá (ETB) and Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), are offering control of local mobile phone operator OLA of which they are majority shareholders. Despite previous assurances that they were looking for a strategic investor to capitalize OLA, the memorandum of understanding makes it clear that control of the company is on the table. Last Friday, both companies pulled out of the bidding process for fixed-line local operator Colombia Telecom saying they were unable to compete with foreign bidders such as Mexico’s Telmex or Spain’s Telefónica.
Posted inDaily Brief
Humala Closes Gap
As Colombian stocks rose on the results of its Congressional elections, stocks in Peru tumbled on news that nationalist Ollanta Humala has closed the gap on front-runner and conservative candidate Lourdes Flores in Peru’s presidential race. A recently published poll puts Humala neck and neck with Flores with 30% of the votes versus 31%, respectively. Humala has said that if voted into office he will impose tighter restrictions on foreign investment in Peru.