Francisco Gil-Díaz, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico will deliver a key-note address at the next Latin American Borrowers and Investors Forum in Miami on February 16th. The forum will bring together the leading institutions and individuals that shape Latin America’s capital markets including Jeff Huther, Director of Debt for the U.S. Department of Treasury; Atul Mehta, Head of Latin America & the Caribbean at the IFC; Andreas von Wedemeyer, President of AFP Profuturo and Arthur Steinmetz, Head of International Bond Trading at Oppenheimer Funds Inc.; among others. To learn more please visit www.latinfinance.com/labif
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Ecuador External Debt Rises
Ecuador’s external debt rose to $17.5 billion in December last year, up 4% from a year earlier. Public debt at $10.9 billion was down slightly on 2004’s figure of $11.1 billion. Private sector debt accounted for $6.7 billion, a rise of 16% from $5.8 billion in 2004.
Posted inDaily Brief
Arca To Buy Stake In Food Processor Grupo Herdez
Mexican soft drink bottler Embotelladoras Arca is to buy a non-controlling stake in family-owned, food processing company Grupo Herdez. Arca has agreed to pay $304 million to buy around 73% in Herdez through a capital increase in the holding company, giving it a 49% stake in that vehicle, and by buying 25% of the food processor’s shares through a tender offer. Monterrey-based Arca says the purchase is aimed at benefiting from the growth in the broader food industry.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico To Sell To US Retail Investors
Mexico is to become the first foreign sovereign to offer investment-grade bonds directly to US retail investors. The government is taking advantage of its investment-grade rating to diversify its investor base and lower the cost of debt financing. From February 13 the government will sell, under its UMS InterNotes program, dollar-denominated bonds in $1,000 denominations, to individuals in the US wishing to invest in Mexico’s thriving economy. The notes will be issued with maturities ranging from three to 10 years and will include a survivor’s option. The bonds are expected to pay annual an interest rate of 0.7 to 1 percentage point above comparable US treasuries. Chicago-based Incapital and Banc of America Securities are lead managers and agents of the new program.
Posted inDaily Brief
IFC Invests In Colombia Paper Producer
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has bought a 12.62% stake in Colombia’s largest producer of paper made from sugar cane fiber, Productora de Papeles (Propal). The IFC bought the stake held by the Colombian government for $18.9 million. Propal is controlled by local conglomerate Carvajal. The IFC, as at June last year, had invested $387 million in Colombia, in sectors ranging from finance to oil.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico: Deficit Narrows To 10-Year Low
Mexico’s budget deficit narrowest to its lowest level in almost 10 years last year, driven by a record trade surplus in the oil sector thanks to the high price of crude. The deficit stood at $705 million, representing 0.09% of GDP as at the end of 2005, while the oil surplus rose 24% against 2004 to $22.3 billion. Mexico is the world’s ninth largest exporter of crude, with most exports heading to the US.
Posted inDaily Brief
Flores Says De Soto To Join Team
One of the leading candidates in Peru’s upcoming April elections, Lourdes Flores, says that she is expecting world-famous Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto to join her administration, should she win. De Soto, considered by many to be the region’s leading economist, is the founder of the think-tank Institute of Liberty and Democracy in Lima and author of ‘El Otro Sendero’ (‘The Other Path’). A recent poll shows conservative candidate Flores with an 8% lead over nearest rival, nationalist Ollanta Humala.
Posted inDaily Brief
Zavala Lombardi addresses audience of issuers and investors
Fernando Zavala Lombardi, Minister of Finance of Peru will address an audience of issuers, investors, and intermediaries at the next Latin American Borrowers and Investors Forum in Miami on February 16th. The forum will bring together the leading institutions and individuals that shape Latin America’s capital markets. They include Jeff Huther, Director of Debt for the U.S. Department of Treasury; Atul Mehta, Head of Latin America & the Caribbean at the IFC; Andreas von Wedemeyer, President of AFP Profuturo and Arthur Steinmetz, Head of International Bond Trading at Oppenheimer Funds Inc.; among others. To learn more please visit www.latinfinance.com/labif
Posted inDaily Brief
Moody’s Improves Ecuador Outlook
Moody’s Investors Service has improved the outlook on Ecuador’s Caa1 foreign-currency bond rating from stable to positive. Moody’s said it had improved the sovereign’s outlook as a result of better liquidity and debt ratios. It also commended the country’s fiscal management despite periods of political uncertainty and said that Ecuador’s debt levels were lower now relative to the years before the country’s default in 1999.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia Telecom Buys Batelsa
Colombia’s state-owned telephone operator Telecom, due for privatization in March, has bought regional fixed-line operator Batelsa, based in Barranquilla, in a deal worth $91.5 million (Ps 206 billion). Telecom was able to bid just under the pre-established minimum of Ps 209 billion after the three-qualifying bidders — EPM, ETB and Metrotel – failed to submit offers in the auction last Friday.