Fitch Studies FertiNitro Nationalization Impact

FertiNitro Finance’s nationalization by the Venezuelan government does not trigger an immediate acceleration of debt, Fitch says. The agency, which has a CCC (negative) rating on the company’s $250m 2020 bonds, says the company has always honored debt obligations, but that after the nationalization, the status of debt obligations is unclear. FertiNitro says that Pequiven, the state-owned company of which it is now a subsidiary, intends to support its debt obligations, but Fitch says details of such support are unclear. The agency does say, however, that the government of Venezuela has not prevented payment of debt obligations of strategically important nationalized companies.