Category: Structured Finance

The IDB has approved a $100m loan to Mexico to help it improve education in isolated villages and indigenous communities. The total cost of the new program is $166.7m, with local counterpart funds accounting for $66.7m equivalent. The $100m IDB loan is for 25 years with a 4.5 year grace period and an interest rate based on Libor.

The US Exim Bank has approved a $1bn preliminary loan commitment for Colombia’s Ecopetrol, it says. The state-controlled oil company will use the funds to purchase goods and services from US providers as it develops reserves and upgrades refineries. Ecopetrol will have the opportunity to convert the commitment into specific medium- and long-term loan and guarantee transactions during the next two years, the bank says. Further details have not been negotiated, according to a US Exim spokesman. Ecopetrol, which had almost no debt of any kind one year ago, sold $1.5bn in 7.625% 2019 bonds last year in a well-received transaction, and aims to become a more frequent borrower as it funds a massive investment plan.

The IDB has approved a $21m loan to Jamaica to finance crime prevention and strategic interventions. The loan, denominated in USD, has a 25-year term and a 4-year disbursement and grace period. The interest rate on the facility is basis Libor.

Colombia is getting a $21.3m loan from the IDB to strengthen judicial services by decongesting the case docket, improve and consolidate case-law information, enhance quality of services provided by the Colombian High Courts, and improve citizen’s perception of the judiciary. This loan features a 20-year term, with a 5.5-year disbursement and grace periods, and a Libor-based interest rate. Separately, the World Bank has approved $25m to improve the quality of and the access to information in Colombia’s public sector. The deal, basis 6-month Libor, matures August 2023. The cash aims to help strengthen, expand and integrate individual public information systems with the purpose of improving strategic decision-making.

The IDB has approved a $100m loan for Ecuador to support its housing carry out its housing policy and help nearly 30,000 households buy, build, and improve their homes. The loan is for a 25-year term, with a 4-year period of grace, at a Libor-based interest rate. The government of Ecuador will provide an additional $5.8m in local counterpart funds.

The BNDES and the IDB have announced credit lines totaling $580m to support separate wind power initiatives in Brazil and Mexico. In Brazil, IMPSA Wind, the wind generation equipment unit of Argentina’s IMPSA, has been granted a BRL838m credit line to help it supply equipment for 10 new wind farms in the state of Santa Catarina, according to the Brazilian development bank. The projects, worth a total BRL1.2bn, will produce some 222MW of power. The IDB also unveiled yesterday a $101m commitment to Mexican projects that will help finance 2 clean electricity projects with loans. The facilities are expected to total 318MW, and will be made in conjunction with other credits from private sector lenders. One project, the 250MW Eurus Wind Farm being developed by the local unit of Spain’s Acciona Energia, is the largest project to date in LatAm, claims the IDB, which has earmarked $50m for the initiative.

Argentine cement producer Loma Negra has obtained a $125m A/B facility with the IDB and a group of banks to help it expand its capacity and invest in environmental projects. The facility includes a $105m 5-year B loan, heard paying in the general Libor plus 425bp area, and a $20m 8-year A loan, paying an additional 37.5bp, according to people familiar with the deal. The deal took close to a year to fund thanks to difficulties commercial banks had in approving the credit to the Argentine borrower in the midst of a crisis, say executives involved. Commercial banks pressed for a guarantee from Loma Negra’s parent Camargo Correa Cimentos to ensure participation, which makes the deal have more of a Brazil credit than an Argentine one. Santander and Standard Bank were the first two banks on the B portion of the deal and were joined later by Itau, HSBC, BBVA and BNP. The total number of banks in the B loan was higher than originally expected, and contributed to an upsize of $25m from an originally targeted $100m, say bankers involved. Despite the guarantee from its Brazilian parent, the deal offers an encouraging, if not premature, development for Argentine corporates seeking to access credit markets. With the sovereign expected to unveil its exchange offer plan in the coming weeks, the possibility of an overall improvement “I think Argentina will return to the bond markets in the 9% area, and this will allow corporates to begin accessing [the markets in general] after that,” Marcos Gradin, head of finance at Loma Negra, tells LatinFinance.

Central American development bank Cabei has printed two new local bond sales in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, respectively, in a continuation of its regionally diversified funding strategy. It sold CRC6bn ($10.6m) in 6-month notes in Costa Rica, paying a rate equal to the Tasa Basica Pasiva. In early December, that rate stood at 7.85%, according to the central bank. The COP740m ($20.5m) Dominican sale offered a 5-year 12.00% fixed-coupon bond, and was placed by Citi. Cabei is coming off a $75m 2-year syndicated loan in Asia and a $500m 2014 global, both done in the last three months. The bank says it plans to raise at least $800m in 2010.