American Tower, a US operator of telecommunications towers and sites, has agreed to acquire 2,500 telecom towers in Mexico from Pegaso PCS, the Mexican subsidiary of Spain’s Telefonica, for $500m. Neither party involved in the deal hired financial advisors, and American Tower used its own in-house M&A group, say a spokeswoman for American Tower. Stearns declined to provide any valuation multiples for the purchase. The company said in a statement that the tower acquisition doubled its portfolio of assets in Mexico, a bet on the future growth of the telecom business in that country.
Category: United States
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Batista Adds to Sport Entertainment JV
Brazil’s EBX and global sports and media company IMG Worldwide have purchased sports agency Brasil 1 Sports and Entertainment for their recently created entertainment joint venture IMX. The holdco for Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista’s group of companies, signed a 50-50 joint venture with IMG in November with the aim of turning it into the leading sports, entertainment and arena company in the country. The IMX venture’s portfolio of projects includes the Volvo Ocean Race, the LPGA Brazil Cup, the Travessia dos Fortes open water marathon and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A spokesman for EBX could offer no valuation details of the transaction and said the total amount paid for Brasil 1 will remain confidential. He could not immediately say if the partners used any financial advisors.
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Delta Takes Gol Stake
Delta Airlines has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes for $100m, in a deal that may cause some Gol shareholder dilution. The US carrier is expected to pay $100m for preferred shares in the hands of controlling shareholders at a rate of BRL22.00 ($12.25) per ADS, Gol says. The stake is estimated to be about 2.9%, Citi says in a report. As part of the deal, the controlling shareholders will issue new ADS in a capital increase of BRL280m, and Delta will receive a seat on the board of the low cost Brazilian carrier. The deal came at a 53% premium over Gol’s Tuesday close, noted a person close to the transaction. Morgan Stanley and law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy advised Gol. Executives at Gol told analysts in a conference call that the transaction will lead to synergies but they would not yet quantify these. Some observers expressed reservations about what the deal would mean for Gol’s minority shareholders. “We are concerned that the controlling shareholders are selling a position in the company at a bid premium versus Tuesday’s close…Preferred shareholders will get a much better deal, versus the dilution faced by minority shareholders, once the capital increase occurs,” Citi says. Gol shares closed Wednesday at BRL15.59.
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NII Draws Large High-Yield Crowd
NII retapped its existing 7.625% 2021 bonds for $700m, upsizing from an original $500m size. The US-based operator of LatAm wireless assets, reopened the bonds at 98.50 to yield 7.852% or UST+600bp, in line with 98.50-area guidance. Order books came in excess of $1.4bn from a predominantly high yield focused audience. Proceeds are for general corporate purposes. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan led the B2/B+ transaction, done through the NII Capital unit. In the original transaction priced in March, NII issued $750m of the bonds to yield 7.625%, through Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. NII is a provider of fully-integrated mobile communication services in Latin America.
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BPZ Set for Lima Listing
BPZ Resources, the US-based E&P company operating in Peru and Ecuador, has been approved to list on the Lima Stock exchange. The timing remains to be determined. BPZ does not announce any new equity capital to be raised in Peru.
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Marfrig Preps Sale of QSR Assets
The Martin-Brower Company is offering to pay $400m to acquire Brazilian food company Marfrig’s quick service restaurants (QSR), logistics assets and other business from its subsidiary Keystone Foods. By divesting these assets, Marfrig and Keystone hope to focus on their core protein businesses. The company says that it will keep its position in the recently announced joint venture with Cofco as it looks to develop its logistics business in China. “Our distribution business is world class,” Larry S. McWilliams, CEO of Keystone Foods, said in a statement. “However, we feel that by strategically focusing our resources on our proteins business, we will be able to add greater value to our customers in the QSR market.” The sale is still subject to regulatory approvals and due diligence.
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Standard Chartered Closes LatAm Sov Desk
Standard Chartered has closed its LatAm sovereign and CDS trading business, citing decreased trading volume. According to a Standard Chartered spokesperson, the closure is specific to the sovereign and CDS products, and does not reflect a withdrawal from DCM or LatAm.
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Acon Buys Grupo Sala in Colombia
US PE firm Acon Investments has acquired an 81% stake in Grupo Sala from Spanish waste company Urbaser through its $250m Acon Latin America Opportunities fund (ALAOF) for an undisclosed amount. Sala has 650,000 municipal waste management customers throughout Colombia and turnover of approximately $80m, Acon partner Jose Miguel Knoell tells LatinFinance. Acon is also injecting additional capital to help grow Sala’s medical and industrial waste business unit, he says. Acon plans to build the business through organic growth and potential bolt-on acquisitions in both the domestic and adjacent markets, potentially including various Colombian water utilities. A sale to a strategic buyer is the most likely exit option for the firm as several pan-regional waste management firms in Brazil and Mexico are looking to grow. There is also potential interest from US and European specialized waste management companies. No advisors were retained on the deal. Approximately 40% of Acon’s $2bn in AUM is in LatAm.
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OneLink Takes Out Loans
Puerto Rico’s San Juan Cable (OneLink), a cable television provider, will take out a $25m revolver due May 2016, a $345m term loan due May 2017, and a $150m term loan due May 2018, according to a Moody’s release. The company would not comment on pricing or say which banks are providing the loans. The loans will be used together with cash on hand to repay the company’s existing debt and to fund an approximately $25m distribution to its equity holders.
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Battle for CapGold Rages On
Canadian miner Timmins Gold has raised its offer for US-based Capital Gold. Both operate in Mexico. Under the increased offer, CapGold shareholders will now receive a total of $5.89 per each of their shares, or a total of $371m. Timmins says the new offer “exceeds the value of the Gammon offer by 8.7%, per CapGold share, based on closing prices on March 14.” In October, Gammon, also based in Canada, offered to acquire CapGold for $288m or $4.57 per share. CapGold has turned Timmins away 4 times. Timmins is now backed by Canada’s Sprott Asset Management, which holds about 13% of CapGold and has voted against Gammon’s offer. Sprott’s stake represents the largest single voting block. A unit of Sprott, Sprott Resource Lending Partnership, has agreed to provide Timmins Gold with a CAD15m credit line and a CAD5m working capital facility. Availability under the credit line and working capital facility is not contingent on completion of the merger of Timmins Gold and Capital Gold, Sprott says. Gammon’s financial advisors are Dundee Securities and UBS, while CapGold’s is Comark Securities. New York’s Innisfree M&A is advising Timmins.