Harvest Natural Resources has received a $400m offer for its 32% stake in Venezuela’s Petrodelta from Argentina’s Pluspetrol, it says. In the deal, Harvest would sell its 80% interest in Harvest-Vinccler Dutch Holding (HVDH). Harvest would sell 29% of HVDH immediately for $125m, and sell the remaining 51% for $275m during 1H2014. The US E&P operator plans to use proceeds to pay off long-term debt and for working capital. The deal is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements between the two firms, as well as approval from stockholders and the Venezuelan government.
Category: Venezuela
Posted inDaily Brief
PdVSA Defines Bond Sale
Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) has come out with additional information on this week’s $4.5bn bond sale. The 6.0% coupon 2026 notes will feature amortization payments in each of the final three years, it says. The bonds will be sold in a private placement, with proceeds to be used for corporate finance and investment. Some $3bn is to be sold to PdVSA suppliers and the remainder placed with the country’s central bank. Officials at the state-owned oil producer were unable to provide additional details, including the exact timing of the transaction, which Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez had indicated in public remarks would be this week. The transaction is rated B. PdVSA has not issued bonds since a $3bn sale in May of 2012, and the Venezuela sovereign has been out of the market since 2011, according to Dealogic data. Analysts say the deal is done this week to come out ahead for the December mayoral elections – the government’s next big test of popularity, which they see deterioration along with the economy. “Polls are showing a strong decline in President Maduro’s approval rating, suggesting the possibility of a heavy defeat for the government in December’s mayoral elections. A large setback for the government here could further weaken Maduro’s leadership, limiting the government’s capacity to make the necessary economic adjustments,” Barclays says.
Posted inDaily Brief
PdVSA Talks Bond Sale
Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) plans to sell $4.5bn in new bonds this week in a private placement, according to public remarks made by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez cited in wire and local press reports.
The debt sale would be the first out of Venezuela this year, and would help the company to meet its commitments through the end of the year. The official did not give details about maturities or pricing. PdVSA has not issued bonds since a $3bn sale in May of 2012, and the Venezuela sovereign has been out of the market since 2011, according to Dealogic data.
Posted inMagazine
Bank of the Year, Venezuela: Banco Banesco
Banesco has extended its international reach with operations in Colombia and Spain
Posted inMagazine
Multilateral Development Bank of the Year: CAF
With a focus on infrastructure, the multilateral lender has expanded its loan book and is prepared for greater demand as markets turn sour
Posted inDaily Brief
CAF Goes Back Down Under
Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) has raised AUD225m ($213m) in Australia’s bond market, according to people familiar with the transaction, returning for a longer duration than it got with its first so-called kangaroo bond. The LatAm development bank drew more than AUD225m demand, allowing it to upsize from AUD100m expectations. The AA minus/Aa3/A+ lender priced the 2023 bond at 99.469 with a 6.250% coupon to yield 6.322%, or mid-swaps plus 195bp, in line with 195bp guidance. Australian investors represented 62% of the book, Asian buyers 26% – with Japanese buyers comprising half of Asian accounts – and Europeans 12%. Deutsche Bank and Westpac Institutional Bank managed the deal. Wednesday’s sale follows the August pricing of a AUD275m 4.25% 2016 bond at a 4.47% yield, LatAm’s first ever onshore AUD bond, followed a week later by a AUD75m retap at a 4.45% yield.
Posted inDaily Brief
CAF Raises $200m with Private FRN
Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) has raised $200m through a private placement, Gabriel Felpeto, CAF’s director for financial policies, tells LatinFinance. The AA minus/Aa3/A+ supranational lender’s 2015 floating-rate note priced at par with a coupon of Libor+53bp. Bank of America Merrill Lynch was sole lead. The deal follows a EUR200m 2033 transaction sold in the German market in September, which priced at 95.643 with a 3.625% coupon to yield 3.944%. Felpeto says while CAF’s funding needs are taken care of for the year, the borrower will continue to look at the USD, EUR and other markets for possible prefunding opportunities.
Posted inDaily Brief
Maduro Swaps Economy VPs
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has named Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez as the country’s new vice president responsible for the economy, according to the government news agency, replacing Finance Minister Nelson Merentes. Merentes had been central bank governor until April, when he was moved to the finance ministry. He had been seen by analysts as pushing the country more towards a market economy. Ramirez has been the oil chief since 2002. Despite a selloff in the country’s bonds due to uncertainty about macroecoomic policy, analysts still see upside in the credit, as the country has the ability and willingness to continue servicing international obligations. Worries about Venezuela’s liquidity were “misplaced,” says Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “There is remarkably little in the data to suggest that Venezuela’s liquidity position is any different than what it has been during most of the past four years. We thus expect the selloff to revert as Venezuela’s capacity to service its debt obligations becomes clear,” it says. Venezuela’s 2027 bond slipped around 10 points, to just under 80 cents, at the end of September, according to data from the bank, after trading around par earlier in the year.
“The policy paralysis does not suggest a near-term credit event unless authorities draw down their stock of external liquidity (which would take around three years of import growth similar to 2012 to reach three months of import coverage),” Jefferies says.
Posted inWeb Articles
Value in Venezuela, say analysts
A sell-off in Venezuelan sovereign bonds offers a buying opportunity, analysts say
Posted inDaily Brief
CAF Upsizes Kangaroo Sale
Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) took advantage of additional investor interest to add AUD75m ($67m) to its new Kangaroo bond Tuesday, taking the outstanding size to AUD350m, Gabriel Felpeto, CAF’s director for financial policies, tells LatinFinance. The AA minus/Aa3/A+ rated supranational lender priced the additional 2016s at 99.443 with a 4.25% coupon to yield 4.45%, or mid-swaps plus 135bp. The transaction is not a reopening, the official explains – it is not uncommon in the Australian market for an issuer to add size during the settlement period to give investors flexibility in participation. A handful of central banks and insurance companies represented the bulk of the AUD75m, he says. Deutsche Bank and Westpac Institutional Bank managed the deal, originally priced last week at a 4.47% yield. It represented LatAm’s second ever AUD-denominated bond sale and the first true Kangaroo bond from the region.